REVIEW: Frighteningly good fun at the the circus!

Piccadilly Circus sees six people from different walks of life who find themselves trapped in an abandoned tunnel on London's Underground.

Even before we meet our cast, the atmosphere was already set to creepy with eerie fairground music that would make even Pennywise the clown feel uneasy.

Then we meet our six lost souls – entitled, pompous Percival Harrington (James Burgess), over-excited American tourist Randi (Adele Simpson) with her not-so enthusiastic daughter Donna (Ella Edgar), irritating yet desperate influencer Liam (Harry Vickers), no-nonsense teacher Joyce (Amanda Hodges), and doddery OAP Jack Peacock (Jeremy Smith).

When their carriage breaks down near Piccadilly Circus station late at night, Jack, who used to work on the Underground in his youth, tells the group of the tale he’d heard of the Piccadilly Circus clowns who are said to haunt the line after they were locked in a pub cellar centuries before…

You’ll find no spoilers in this review, you need to find out what happens next for yourselves as this show needs to be seen to be believed because it is genuinely brilliant.

What follows is a wonderful mix of good laughs – with a cross-section of cheeky humour and slapstick comedy – and genuine scares as our terrifying clowns Big Ben (Ray Baker) and Dizzy Lou (Erin Slonskyj) headed up by ringmaster Rudi von Crinklewurst (director John Hewer) will have the audience laughing at their silly antics one minute, then hiding behind their popcorn the next.

Building a realistic model of a Tube carriage as well as a creepy circus setting is no mean feat but the designers have done an incredible job, not to mention the creepy lighting and sound effects which make the show truly spectacular.

The actors all do a fantastic job bringing writer Kate McLennan’s brilliant script to life, with every single one of them bringing so much energy and stage presence.

While probably not a show for people with coulrophobia, I can’t recommend Piccadilly Circus highly enough – it’s probably one of the best acted shows I’ve seen outside of the West End.

Piccadilly Circus will be shown at Louth Riverhead Theatre tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday. Tickets are available at tickets.louthriverheadtheatre.com