Circus Under My Bed

Circus Under My Bed appears as a sequence of events in the mind of a young girl, Celeste, facing the task of packing up the last of her belongings before the morning.

Certainly more could have been made of the ways in which the impending departure and Celeste’s misplacement of her favourite book might matter to her -- for unless they matter to Celeste, they’re unlikely to matter to those metaphorically standing in her shoes.  But ultimately that didn’t matter; the envelope that was the departure story served, rather than to provide emotional meaningfulness, primarily to introduce, space, and unify the various acts.

And it was obvious that many of those acts appealed to their target audience; there were times in which children near us could hardly contain themselves, and their spontaneous gesticulations, clapping along and delighted laughter certainly added to the fun.

To state the kinds of acts would do no justice to the appeal that this production has for the very young.  The acts were of a kind you’ll have seen if you’ve attended several circus performances; and yet… there were many surprises.  The degree of eye–hand coordination some performers exhibited was frankly phenomenal.  Though Circus Under My Bed is a show very much intended for young children, it features moments that are breathtaking even to the seasoned circus audience member.  And there were other special delights for the children: performers interacting with audience members; gorgeous saturated lighting in an extended dream sequence.  It’s a production many children in the audience will remember for decades to come.

John P. Harvey

Photographer: Daniel Boud.