THE OUTRAGEOUS Circus of Horrors makes its Welsh debut at the New Theatre, Cardiff on November 29, and it promises to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience - a fusion of daredevil, bizarre circus acts and live rock music.
It's what you might call extreme circus, bringing you face to face with oddities, and sensational acts from sword swallowers to voodoo acrobats.
Several of its blood-curdling routines have made television appearances on Davina McCall's Don't Try This At Home, and the show has toured the world since its conception, in 1995, garnering rave reviews.
The action centres on the story of a naive young girl who runs away to join the Circus of Horrors in 1900. She is duped by the evil members and sucked into a world of lechery and depravity, resulting in her sacrificial death.
We then jump forward 120 years to Sin City - populated by mutants, monsters and cyber vamps, where our heroine is plotting her revenge.
Director Peirrot Bidon, was responsible for Archaos, a chain-saw wielding, death defying bunch of anarchic performers who toured up and down the country in the early 1990s, stunning and delighting audiences, and outraging local pillars of the community who'd never seen the show.
Bidon was invited to join Circus of Horrors after its original creators, musician Haze, and showman Gerry Cottle, recognised the show's potential and need of a director.
After the demise of Archaos, Haze had seen a gap in the market for an off-the-wall circus, and after ironically bumping into Cottle at a funeral, pitched his idea of a Circus of Horrors. Cottle liked the idea, and his daughters leapt at the chance to become vampire trapeze artistes.
After making its debut at Glastonbury in 1995, the duo decided they wanted to bring their mentor Bidon on board to build the show up into a major attraction - which he has, taking it to South America and Europe, and major venues throughout the UK.
There are guest appearances by Arthur Brown (The Crazy World of Arthur Brown), Dave Hill (Slade), and Dani Filth (Cradle of Filth).
Circus of Horrors visits Cardiff's New Theatre from November 29 to December. There are five performances; Thursday 8pm, Friday and Saturday 6pm and 9pm.
Tickets start at £8, and on Friday's 6pm show there is a buy one get one free offer. Box office: 029 2087 887. THE SHOW IS DEEMED SUITABLE FOR OVER 14s ONLY.
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