Review: Hailsham circus act stuns crowd

A new circus act in Hailsham left spectators wanting more after showcasing a number of jaw-dropping stunts.

I attended East Sussex School of Circus Arts (ESSCA) for the Acting Moon Circus show on Wednesday, August 18.

While approaching the venue you are instantly immersed in the performance as a woman on stilts greets you in the carpark.

As the show begins viewers are treated to a bombardment of talented performers with a number of skills including tightrope-walking, walking on exercise balls and balancing a ladder on their chin.

ESSCA consists of performers from a range of exotic regions of the world including Brazil, Chile, Barcelona and Hailsham.

The performers are introduced to the crowd by the ringmaster who uses light-hearted humour to present his team.

An ESSCA graduate from Hailsham kicked-off the string of individual acts by showcasing her acrobatic ability while hoisted in the air via a forklift vehicle.

A 17-year-old tightrope walker also performed for the crowd of parents and children while a fellow Portuguese exchange student humoured the audience with his mime-esque antics.

The performer often sparked a wave of laughter across the groups in attendance due to his continued banter with the ringmaster as well as when he comically exposed his boxer shorts to the crowd – much to the amusement of the children in the audience.

Another acrobat, who is also from Portugal where ESSCA has a twinned school, impressed the crowd with her aerial flexibility that included doing the splits while hanging from a rope that was held in the air by the JCB vehicle.

The cast also had a multi-talented trio who stunned the crowd with their jaw-dropping trapeze skills.

The group, who call themselves volem volar which means ‘we want to fly’ in Catalan, performed a number of trapeze tricks up to 10-meters in the air as they left spectators on the edge of their seats.

A moment that will stand out in the audience’s mind will be when one of the trapeze artists flipped blind-folded before being caught in the air.

The ringmaster said, “There are not a lot of people who can do this.

“Nowhere in the world will you see three people like that.”

To conclude the show, which is produced and directed by Renato Pires, visitors were treated to a fire-breathing and dancing display that left spectators wanting more.

As the show is hosted outside, alongside a traditional circus tent, it allows the audience to socially distance if they choose.

Acting Moon Circus is running everyday until Sunday, August 22 and between Wednesday, August 25 – Sunday, August 29 at ESSCA in Hailsham by Knockhatch Adventure Park.

Review by Jacob Panons.