THE latest Moscow State Circus touring show, Babushkin Sekret, has been created with a British audience in mind.

“It involved many months of planning before it even gets here, and it’s a show that was specially put together for over here,” says general manager Paul Archer, as he prepares to bring the newly devised performance to the Grand Opera House in York on Wednesday and Thursday.

“There are two or three versions of Babushkin Sekret as a film in Russia; it would be like their equivalent of The Sound Of Music.”

Inspired by the legend of The 12 Chairs, Babushkin Sekret is performed by a “mammoth cast” of Russian circus artists, many of them performing in Britain for the first time in a show that combines contemporary and classical circus.

Each winter, Moscow State Circus performs at several theatres in January and February, and Paul is in charge of each tour’s logistics. “Those duties go from organising everything in the UK to liaising with Moscow to bring everything here – even down to requirements for moving equipment across the UK, getting visas and arranging certificates of sponsorship.

“We are effectively their sponsors as their employers in this country; it’s a system that came in two years ago and seems to be working very well.”

The new touring show features the queen of Russian circus, Yana Alievia, on a revolving ariel chandelier; the Whirlwind Rubsovs troupe, who acrobatically catapult themselves at breakneck speed, fresh from performing in Brazil; the gyrating, juggling Sherbakovs; and The Doktrov, flying and spiralling in the apex of the auditorium.

Taking part too are the flying Veslovski; the Roller Skating Troupe; twisted contortionist Katia; the Yakovles Jugglers, making their British debut, on their vertical poles; the Shmandrpvskoys duo; and a pair of clowns, Splendid Pavlik & Klava.

Together, they will be presenting the story of Babushkin Sekret, set in Soviet Russia in 1927, where a former member of nobility works as a desk clerk until his grandmother reveals on her deathbed that her family jewellery had been hidden from the Bolsheviks in one of the 12 chairs from the family’s dining-room set.

Those chairs, along with all other personal property, had been expropriated by the government after the Russian Revolution. The desk clerk will be played by Splendid Pavlik & his sidekick Klava, who become treasure hunters in search of the chairs, and in particular the 12th and last one, which is said to contain the treasure.

Wednesday and Thursday’s audiences will follow the ‘buffoons’ in their quest for fame and fortune as they discover if their fate lay in the stars or in a fool’s paradise.

Whereas circus is performed traditionally in the round under canvas, the theatre tour presents a different challenge. “In the theatre, it’s performed on stage and you have to bring in acts to supplement acts that work in the big top,” says Paul. “Obviously you can’t replicate the high wire in a theatre. It would be too high and the rigging we use involves pulling five tons at each end, so it’s not viable in a theatre.

“We also have a quick turnover of shows on a theatre tour, when it takes only a day to set up the show, whereas the big top takes much longer.”

Paul selects acts for the theatre show in partnership with his Russian wife. “Irina goes with me to Russia or if they’re performing somewhere else on tour, we go there to see them,” he says.

“We get many, many acts suggested to us but the difficulty is that because the economy is so good in Russia now, wages are on a par with over here. So whereas they used to be keen to come to England, now it’s more difficult to get them over here… unless they want to see the sights in London and York,” he says.

Paul notes the double whammy of “not a lot of circus being produced in Britain now” and the “poor quality of those shows making people think twice about going to the circus”. “But, along with the Chinese State Circus, the Moscow State Circus has a great reputation,” he says.

Add to that the benefit of the show being in a theatre. “If it’s blowing a gale outside, or starting an earthquake, it’s great to be inside a theatre,” says Paul. “Some people prefer a big top, but last summer there was so much rain and so many wet grounds. Theatre gets away from that problem.”

• The Moscow State Circus presents Babushkin Sekret, Grand Opera House, York, Wednesday at 8pm; Thursday, 2pm and 5pm. Tickets: £16 to £23 on 0844 871 3024 or atgtickets.com/york

 

Win tickets...

COURTESY of the Grand Opera House, York, The Press has two sets of family tickets – four seats per winner – to be won for Thursday's 2pm  performance of Babushkin Sekret by the Moscow State Circus.

Question: What are the Moscow State Circus's two clowns called?

Send your answer by email to charles.hutchinson@nqyne.co.uk by Wednesday, 10am.