By Tim Saunders
When I was small, my mum used to read me the excellent 1965 children’s book, Tim’s Hoop by Ruth Ainsworth and Ronald Ridout. It was about a hoop that had a life of its own. This stimulated my interest in these simple large plastic circles that I went on to use in school gym lessons for jumping in, mainly, although sometimes we’d throw a ball or a small beanbag into them.
When my daughter Heidi (12) and I watch Cirque: The Greatest Show Reimagined at The Anvil, Basingstoke, pleasingly hoops play a key role but there’s a much more creative use for them, we learn. Inside one, an expert acrobat is able to make it do phenomenal, stunning, mesmerising and thoroughly dizzying moves. Wow. And he can walk in a straight line afterwards…. I never thought you could do such things with a hoop. We can only imagine the training involved to get to this point. An art form is literally created before our very eyes. Even Marcel’s pet robotic dog, Baguette, jumps through a hoop.
Marcel is the glue that holds the performance together. He doesn’t just sit in his living room watching the television but takes deliveries, does eye-catching tricks such as making a working bow and arrow from a balloon….
“How does he do that?” asks Heidi.
“That’s the magic of theatre,” I reply.
And he gets the audience, in this almost full theatre, involved – on the stage to help him with his tricks.
Acrobats do things with their legs that we just didn’t think possible. The stamina involved when one stands on the uplifted hands of another, not just once either, but many times. It is just like being at a circus, especially when Marcel receives a unicycle delivery. There’s a bit of word play too when the word ‘fragile’ on the side of a box is changed to ‘a girl’ and out one jumps. But it’s also like being in a musical thanks to the songs. For a time, Britain’s Got Talent Golden Buzzer Winner Max Fox sings without musical accompaniment, which takes some doing. His episode, where he pleaded with Simon Cowell to audition, after trying to get on the show for 19 years, was broadcast back in April. Dreams can come true, he sings.
Death defying knife throwing - especially when flames are used - leaves us breathless as the femme fatale just nonchalantly sways from side to side. And then there are the roller skating acrobats doing incredible things. “Did you see that, Daddy?” whispers Heidi in awe. “How does that man make the other spin like a wheel through his legs?”
“I have no idea,” I reply, stunned. “But they must be very dizzy.”
Just in case there were any doubts, from the outset with the circus-like music and dazzling costumes, we’re informed that this is “the greatest show”. I think they’re probably right.
Tour dates
CARLISLE, The Sands Centre
Sat 27 Sep 2025
NEWCASTLE, Tyne Theatre & Opera House
Sun 28 Sep 2025
EASTBOURNE, Congress Theatre
Fri 03 Oct 2025
BASILDON, Towngate Theatre
Sat 04 Oct 2025
SWINDON, Wyvern Theatre
Sun 05 Oct 2025
WOLVERHAMPTON, Grand Theatre
Fri 10 Oct 2025
BATH, The Forum
Sat 11 Oct 2025
WINDSOR, Theatre Royal Windsor
Sun 12 Oct 2025
BRIDLINGTON, Bridlington Spa
Fri 17 Oct 2025
BILLINGHAM, Forum Theatre
Sat 18 Oct 2025
HARROGATE, Royal Hall
Sun 19 Oct 2025
STEVENAGE, Gordon Craig Theatre
Thu 23 Oct 2025
CRAWLEY, The Hawth
Fri 24 Oct 2025
CHATHAM, Central Theatre
Sat 25 Oct 2025
READING, The Hexagon
Sun 26 Oct 2025
BUXTON, Buxton Opera House
Mon 27 Oct 2025
MANCHESTER, Aviva Studios
Tue 28 Oct 2025
CHELMSFORD, Chelmsford Theatre
Wed 29 Oct 2025
WATFORD, Colosseum
Thu 30 Oct 2025
COVENTRY, Warwick Arts Centre
Fri 31 Oct 2025
SHREWSBURY, Theatre Severn
Sat 01 Nov 2025
PETERBOROUGH, The Cresset
Sun 02 Nov 2025
BIRMINGHAM, The Alexandra
Thu 06 Nov 2025
GRIMSBY, Grimsby Auditorium
Fri 07 Nov 2025
LEICESTER, De Montfort Hall
Sat 08 Nov 2025
SHEFFIELD, City Hall and Memorial Hall
Sun 09 Nov 2025
LLANDUDNO, Venue Cymru
Sun 16 Nov 2025
ST ALBANS, The Alban Arena
Sat 23 May 2026
PLYMOUTH, Pavilions
Sun 07 Jun 2026
HIGH WYCOMBE, Wycombe Swan
Sat 18 Jul 2026
