Val: This is one of those performances that makes something look so elegantly, delicately simple – but is in fact mind-bogglingly complex and complicated and more skillful than any of us ordinary Joannas in the audience could even dream of being.  And it’s very, very funny.



Jay: Yeah, that family circus heritage really shows, ay.  I love the tiny but perfectly formed big top, it's worth seeing on it's own even if you don't make it to a performance. Also: all experiences which begin with walking through a velvet curtain are off to a good start.

V: What would you call the style? Distressed?

J: Haha yes – it’s got a really great Italian 16th century style and it's designed to look like it's been around a while. Maybe it has!

V:So there’s only two of them performing the show.  And what little dialogue there is, is nonsensical or this highly-iffy cod-Italian.  So the whole punch of the show comes from the visual impact and the emotional connection they build up with the audience.

J: Which comes slowly but surely – they really worm their way into your head.  You don’t realise you’ve been completely and irreversibly sucked into this surreal world that they inhabit, until it's too late.

V:Oh, there is one other character, of course. The barrel-organ at the back.  Which plays all the music (when it feels like it) and dispenses most of the props.  It is a worryingly living creature… 

J: Yes, so with just two of them, plus the machine with a ghost in it, obviously what they do next is co-opt four people straight out the audience.

V:They use more ‘volunteers’ than players!  And they weave them into the story and the action so tightly, so perfectly, I found myself wondering whether they were plants.  I honestly don’t think they were – but rather that the brothers adapt each performance around whoever gets picked.

J: I had similar thoughts about the tricks and set-ups that apparently 'failed'.  Let’s face it, the things they were attempting looked so difficult you’d expect a high degree of miss! But the way they responded to the 'misses' was precious comedy metal. That aspect of it reminded me a bit of Tommy Cooper.

V:Yup, from the way they followed up each ‘failure’ it was impossible to tell whether they were deliberately building tension, or just had a whole trailer full of appropriate reactions round the back, ready to pull out in each situation.  People who can pull off that ‘rehearsed improv’ are my absolute comedy heroes! 

J: There is a story arc, of course, that you get carried along with but it’s totally hat-stand.  There are power struggles, rivalries, romance, thwarted ambitions…

V:…lollipops, comedy trousers, completely out of proportion kitchen equipment... 

J: ...and of course pizza! All mixed in with their own miniaturised versions of high-wire acts, balancing acts, juggling, clowning. All wonderful entertaining stuff. 

V:Ah jugglers!  Now, as anyone who knows me can tell you, if there’s one thing I hate more than poetry – its juggling.  And I think I know why – because Circus Ronaldo is how it’s supposed to be done.

J: Yes I was surprised you enjoyed that. Maybe it was because, rather than a person standing there with his balls in his hand saying “look at me!  I’m a juggler!”, everything on the stage (up to and including the audience volunteers!) were part of the act?  Everything was used, worked in, worked around, thrown between.

V:This show is literally enthralling.  It moves very slowly in places – and you’re hanging on the action, just staring at it.  And then there are other parts that move so fast, and are so completely engaging, you have the whole heart-pounding and having to remember to breathe. 

J: Verdict: The perfect mix of circus and physical theatre served on a crispy pizza base.

 Z I N G  ! 

(Go and see it – you'll love it!)