Underbelly CIRCUS HUB Returns! One-Stop Shop For Circus, Cabaret & Variety Announced At Edinburgh Fringe

Underbelly makes a triumphant post-pandemic return to its spiritual home at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with 10 incredible shows spanning circus, cabaret, comedy, variety and more. Spanning two dazzling venues - The Lafayette and The Beauty - as well as a charming bar, Underbelly's Circus Hub provides the perfect antidote from the madness of the Mile with a raft of shows to dazzle, delight and inspire, including:

Showcasing the most awe-inspiring acts from the UK and across the globe, Underbelly's Circus Hub plays host to an incredibly diverse line-up with performers from the USA to Australia and Ethiopia to Canada.

• Multi Olivier Award-winning cabaret spectacular LA CLIQUE's return home to the Fringe with new performers and unmissable favourites.

• CIRCUS ABYSSINIA's mind-bending show TULU, inspired by real-life Ethiopian superwoman Derartu Tulu's Olympic gold

• CIRCA: HUMANS 2.0, a symphony of acrobatics, sound and light in celebration of the beauty of the human form.

• CIRQUE ALFONSE: ANIMAL, a dazzling and delightful show for all the family, filled with zany antics that flips the farm from agricultural to funky.

• SPLASH TEST DUMMIES, a circus-fuelled slapstick comedy to entertain the whole family.

• BLUNDERLAND, a fun, naughty and strangely erotic show born out of the New York underground queer nightlife scene,

• BRIEFS: BITE CLUB, a mischievous mix of infamous Aussie boy-lesque troupe with Sahara Beck's soaring vocals in a fierce display of talent.

• REBEL, a glittering glam-rock circus tribute to the original rebel, David Bowie.

• HOTEL PARADISO, a fun, colourful, family show you that combines the whimsy of Fawlty Towers with stunning displays of acrobatics, clowns and jugglers.

• The all-female led BRAVE SPACE, an intimate and immersive production that creates a bold and beautiful dystopian utopia filled with circus, art and bravery.

Created in 2015, The Underbelly Circus Hub was the first ever major space dedicated to circus at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The venues names - La Fayette (550-seat big top) and Beauty (500-seat Spiegeltent) - have a deeper history and pay homage to Edinburgh's great tradition of circus performance. Named in honour of two of history's greatest circus performers and illusionists - The Great Lafayette, and his beloved performing dog Beauty. These remarkable venues celebrate the legacy of circus performance in Edinburgh, whilst providing state of the art spaces to host spectacular and technically ambitious circus work of a level that has never been seen before at the Fringe, right in the beating heart of the city.

Beyond the Circus Hub, Underbelly will also present circus-inspired spectacular Boom! at McEwan Hall from 4-28 August at 3.30pm. This production brings together performers from Cirk La Putyka (Czech Republic) and Kyiv Municipal Academy of Variety and Circus Art (Ukraine) to collaborate on a new show about family, freedom and borders. Accompanied by enchanting music, Boom! celebrates incredible circus talent as well as resilience and optimism in the face of adversity.

For tickets and more information head to: www.underbellyedinburgh.co.uk

PROGRAMME OF EVENTS

BLUNDERLAND

Underbelly's Circus Hub on the Meadows (The Beauty) | 21:55 (60mins)

Previews: Aug 5 (£14.00)

Weekday: Aug 10-11,16-18,23-25 (£16.50/£15.50)

Weekend: Aug 6-9,12-14,19-21,26-27 (£18.50/£17.50)

Genre: Absurdist, Circus

The subversive break-out hit of the international cabaret and circus circuit, we have arrived with a STRONG dose of what we all need at the moment: some outrageous nightlife naughtiness, club-kid antics, and a heady dose of arthouse-weird. Born out of the New York underground queer nightlife scene this show has titillating packed crowds worldwide who are enthralled with its uniquely whimsical and ridiculous performance combinations. Join us for an evening of sensually disastrous drag, burlesque, and circus you won't forget!!

BRAVE SPACE

Underbelly's Circus Hub on the Meadows (The Beauty) | 11:00 (60mins)

Weekday: Aug 10-11,16-18,23-25 (£13.00/£12.00)

Weekend: Aug 6-9,12-14,19-21,26-27 (£14.00/£13.00)

Genre: Circus, Immersive

Brave Space is the building of a blanket fort, sneaking under a hoop skirt, an impulsive congregation in the tiniest of tents. Starting as a puddle of fabric on the floor, it grows to encompass a wondrous world of circus. Intimate and low tech, the audience sits nose-to-nose with an all-female cast of bold physical artists to build the world we want to live in, even for only a few shared moments. 'Brave Space imagines a kind of dystopian utopia, in which peril is made present but survivable, even beautiful. Its living, beating heart remains constant' (Chicago Tribune).

BRIEFS: BITE CLUB

Underbelly's Circus Hub on the Meadows (The Lafayette) | 20:45 (70mins)

Preview: Aug 5 (£14.00)

Weekday: Aug 10-11,16-18,23-25 (£18.00/£17.00)

Weekend: Aug 6-9,12-14,19-21,26-27 (£20.00/£19.00)

Genre: Circus, Music

Australia's award-winning cult-cabaret mischief-makers Briefs Factory, join forces with much celebrated songbird Sahara Beck. An event sautéed in a hedonistic haze of music, circus, drag, burlesque, theatre, and comedy. Described as one of Australia's most arresting performers, Sahara Beck's soaring vocals will blast female pride power into the ferociously fierce displays of talent from the BRIEFS boys you know and love. Their slick tomfoolery and heart-stopping hooliganism will be bathed in suave synth, heady hooks, and swelling strings, all set to a glorious pop pulse.

CIRCA: HUMANS 2.0

Underbelly's Circus Hub on the Meadows (The Lafayette) | 18:35 (60mins)

Preview: Aug 5 (£12.00)

Weekend: Aug 6-9,12-14,19-21,26-27 (£21.00 / £20.00)

Weekday: Aug 11,16-18,23-25 (£18.00 / 17.00)

Genre: Circus, Theatre

A symphony of acrobatics, sound and light, this is next-level circus by Circa. 10 bodies appear in a flash of light. They move in harmony for a fleeting moment and then descend into a sinuous trance. Towers grow and decay, bodies leap and are caught, as physical limits are pushed to their extreme. Can we ever find a perfect balance or is adapting to constant change the only way forward? A tightly woven choreography of bodies, pulsing with music, Humans 2.0 is intimate, primal and deeply engaged with the challenge of being human.

CIRCUS ABYSSINIA: TULU

Underbelly's Circus Hub on the Meadows (The Lafayette) | 14:15 (60mins)

Weekdays: Aug 6-9,12-14,19-21,26-27 (£18.00/£16.50)

Weekends: Aug 10-11,16-18,23-25 (£16.00/£14.50)

Genre: Circus, International

A dazzling display of speed, skill and flight lands in Edinburgh this summer, celebrating the first African woman to win Olympic gold. Inspired by the true tale of an Ethiopian icon, Derartu Tulu, this unmissable showcase of superhuman strength blends breath-taking contortion, awe-inspiring acrobatics and mesmerising fire juggling with a rocking, exuberant soundtrack. Circus Abyssinia made their UK debut at the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe and featured on the Royal Variety Performance in the same year. After touring internationally, including a sell-out run in New York, they are thrilled to return with their greatly anticipated new show.

CIRQUE ALFONSE: ANIMAL

Underbelly's Circus Hub on the Meadows (The Lafayette) | 16:25 (60mins)

Weekday: Aug 11,16-18,23-25 (£17.50/£16.50)

Weekend: Aug 6-9,12-14,19-21,26-27 (£19.50/£18.50)

Genre: Circus, Music, Family

Cirque Alfonse takes us through a series of surreal farm fables served up with a touch of irreverence, impressive virtuosity and the company's familiar comic touch. In this re-invented agricultural world, the farm is turned upside down! Yet again, the Cirque Alfonse clan has favoured its multidisciplinary approach where circus, song, dance and theatre all come together, driven by original live music ... an irresistible mix of trad and soul that the troupe calls 'agricultural funk! A production for young and old alike, ANIMAL is the farm gone haywire!

DUMMIES: SPLASH TEST

Underbelly's Circus Hub on the Meadows (The Lafayette) | 12:05 (60mins)

Weekday: Aug 10-11,16-18,23-25 (£11.50/£12.50)

Weekend: Aug 6-9,12-14,19-21,26-27 (£12.50/£13.50)

Genre: Family, Circus
Splash Test Dummies are here, ready to roll out their beach towels and spring into an hour of circus-filled hilarity for the whole family. See a brilliant array of catch- your-breath stunt work, acrobatics, juggling and the side- splitting, slapstick comedy for which the dummies are famous. Join the Dummies and come diving from bathtubs to beaches in this aquatic adventure!

Winner of Best Children's Presentation - Adelaide Fringe 2020.

HOTEL PARADISO

Underbelly's Circus Hub on the Meadows (The Beauty) | 15:20 (60mins)

Weekend: Aug 6-9,12-14,19-21,26-27 (£15.50 / £14.50)

Weekday: Aug 10-11,16-18,23-25 15:20 (£14.50 / £13.50)

Genre: Family, Circus

Irresistibly colourful, loud and fun for all the family. Thrillingly spectacular circus skills, physical comedy, clowning, theatrical storytelling and slapstick combine in this follow-up to international hit, The Hogwallops from 'good old-fashioned contemporary circus' company, LiT. A rundown hotel becomes a physical playground for a multinational cast of six highly skilled acrobats, clowns and jugglers. Madame and the charming staff of the quirkily ineffective Hotel Paradiso battle to save their home and livelihood from the dastardly banker. 'The UK's most-acclaimed family circus company' (WhatsOnStage.com). 'My favourite family show on the Fringe... perfect' (Fest).

LA CLIQUE

Underbelly's Circus Hub on the Meadows (The Beauty) | 19:35 (70mins)

Preview: Aug 5 (£14.00)

Weekdays: Aug 6-8,12-14,19-21,26-27 (£21.00/£20.00)

Weekend: Aug 9-11,16-18,23-25 (£19.00/£18.00)

Genre: Cabaret & Variety, Comedy, Circus

The multi award-winning cabaret spectacular, La Clique, features the best of circus, comedy and cabaret. Born at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2004 and subsequently gaining international acclaim touring the globe, this original and trailblazing spiegeltent-based cabaret show brings you a magnificent collection of extraordinary new artists and unmissable favourites. A decade on from winning the Best Entertainment Olivier Award and fresh from performances in London and Singapore, La Clique promises to be a night of laughs, gasps, naughtiness and the best in international cabaret.

REBEL

Underbelly's Circus Hub on the Meadows (The Beauty) | 17:30 (60mins)

Weekday: Aug 10-11,16-18,23-25 (£15.50/£14.50)

Weekend: Aug 6-9,12-14,19-21,26-27 (£16.50/£15.50)

Genre: Music, Cabaret

A live circus rock tribute to the original rebel, David Bowie. Stage dive into the mosh pit for a night of live music, glittering glam rock, phenomenal acrobatics, breath-taking aerials and spectacular heart-stopping sideshow. Combining music and circus, bringing to life an incredible body of work that spanned over 50 years, with an aesthetic that inspired generations.

For ticketing information, head to www.underbellyedinburgh.co.uk and follow Underbelly on social media @FollowTheCow

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