The show must go on

Beef, beer and books–Catherine Austen talks to five people who have worked to bring local cheer, comfort and fun to the Cotswolds during testing times

- Catherine Austen

The circus producer

WHEN we put this year’s show, The Hooley, on hold, we were under the impression that we’d open again, that we might lose only a month of the tour,’ says Lil Rice, producer of Giffords Circus. ‘As it became clear that it was more serious than that, we started thinking.’

The creative brains that give flight to the visual and aural delight that is Giffords’s annual show came up with The Feast. Branded ‘a scrumptious circus and dining experience under the big top’, it inverts the traditional idea of the travelling circus coming to you— instead, you come to the circus at its winter headquarters, Fennells Farm, Stroud.

‘It was the idea of our head chef, Ols [Halas]. He said: “Everybody’s doing takeaways— why don’t we?”. We got really good feedback, and the next thing was to try to put on some sort of show as well, but with social distancing and a cap on numbers. Cal [McCrystal, show director] and I talked about it for a month. He’s worked on dinner shows all over the world and was convinced we could do it.’

The majority of performers had fled home, like swallows, at the beginning of lockdown. ‘We were on day two of rehearsals when it was clear borders were going to close. In general, circus people tough it out—we just get on with it—but this time we couldn’t do that.’

Lil and Cal found new acts: Lil, the daughter of artist Matthew Rice and pottery supremo Emma Bridgewater, co-hosts the show with Michael Fletcher, performs on the Cyr wheel and sings. They galloped through five days of rehearsals and a sparkling new show, complete with Tweedy, Giffords’s legendary clown, arose, phoenix-like.