Review: REVEL PUCK CIRCUS: THE RUCKUS, Fellowship Square

With enough vim and vigour to light up the nearby town hall, Revel Puck Circus brings The Ruckus back to their hometown of Walthamstow as part of their Winter Festival.

There will always be an appeal to anything happening in a Spiegeltent, a mobile big top which looks fabulous from the outside and adds instant glamour to anything that happens inside. Unlike the grim grey exteriors of most London theatres, even wandering up to one of these brightly-lit unique venues lifts the soul somewhat. The young crew of acrobats and their entertaining show inside do nothing to dispel that feeling.

There’s a cheeky charm to the whole night with host Nancy (Arielle Lauzon) leading from the front. In between clowning, acrobatics and more costume changes than a Eurovision presenter, there’s a vague and almost entirely unnecessary narrative about how she‘s preparing for a night out. The cast are there to help her get ready so we see a conveyor belt of routines around Nancy getting in shape, sorting her hair out and finding her perfect outfit. 

Artistic director Luke Hallgarten knows how to work on a budget and still maintain a high level of quality throughout. The cast are an all female or non-binary team composed of experienced performers in Lauzon and Jackie Le alongside trapeze and cyr wheel specialist Ash Meyer, contortionist Kasyema Mulinge and hand-balancer Becky Robins who are all recent graduates of London’s National Centre for Circus Arts (previously known as Circus Space).

There’s no mega-fancy Cirque du Soleil-style set pieces here or the kind of international superstars you’d find at Come Alive! but Hallgarten turns that to his advantage with an adept crew which works hard for each other and for the audience. Rather than the conveyor belt approach seen in La Clique where acts pop up one after the other, Hallgarten blends together cast members for each routine, either to kick it off or to join together in innovative combinations. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen a two-high but I can’t say I’ve seen one with the vertical pair (Lauzon and Robins) comically bickering with each other. 

A blazingly eclectic soundtrack (obviously including Chappell Roan but also Francis Lai, Youngblood Brass Band and Jain) and convincing sound effects are a key part of the appeal here. In one of the most terrifying things of the year (even more than the unintentional horrorshow that was Opening Night), Mulinge goes into a backward crab in carefully gradated motions, each almost imperceptible pause accompanied by the hair-raising noise of cracking bones. Also, props to the props used here: a huge record-player model becomes a platform which slowly spins Mulinge around while later a heavy treadmill is brought on stage so Lauzon can deploy some impressive physical antics.

One of the finest features of The Ruckus is just how inclusive the whole endeavour feels. Revel Puck's mission statement reads “Contemporary circus. For everyone. From everywhere” and they have a long tradition of keeping ticket prices low and popping up in venues outside central London, both of which help bring their productions to a wider and more diverse audience.

There’s another welcome feature to their shows that needs to be noted (and applauded): every performer in every routine spends time entertaining all three sides of the stage, either by walking or looking around or rotating during their act.  It sounds simple and obvious yet this is seen so rarely in events like this. Too many circus directors have more of a proscenium mindset which means that “in the round” Spiegeltent shows too often have their stars chiefly facing onto only those seated at the front; consequently, those down the left or the right get a lesser experience. It may not seem much in the scale of things but, even in the grandest of spectacles, small touches like this can make all the difference.

Revel Puck Circus’ The Ruckus continues until 5 January 2025

As part of their Winter Festival, Revel Puck Circus are also performing The Ugly Duckling (A Circus Story) for younger audience members also until 5 January 2025.

Photo credit: Lidia Crisafulli

 

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