The Upcoming
  • Cinema & Tv
    • Movie reviews
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Show reviews
  • Music
    • Live music
  • Food & Drinks
    • News & Features
    • Restaurant & bar reviews
    • Interviews & Recipes
  • Theatre
  • Art
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Literature
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureTheatre

The Royal Family of Strange People at the Southbank Centre

The Royal Family of Strange People at the Southbank Centre | Theatre review
17 August 2012
Eleanor MacFarlane
Avatar
Eleanor MacFarlane
17 August 2012

You can’t look but you can’t not look. It’s impossible not to react to the amazing things these people are doing right before you. Sword swallowing, fire eating, lifting up weights with parts of the body truly not designed to do so; this show is part burlesque, part freak show, part circus. The audience screams, gasps, and laughs – a lot.

In the tradition of a Coney Island freak show, each act is a highly skilled, highly dangerous performance of something you truly wonder at what gave them the idea. Just when does someone discover they can insert a fork in their face?

Bizarre and twisted, you don’t need to be alternative to thoroughly enjoy this slice of different. Definitely gruesome at times, the performers also bring a sense of otherliness. The women are at times especially mesmerising – the fire eater seems to have a special relationship with her chosen element. It’s a little bit dark, a little bit naughty, and a little bit sexy.

The line-up varies over the course of the season, and having seen it once, you may be tempted to go back and see the rest of the performers. There is a long tradition in freak shows that include those with special talents alongside those who undergo extreme body modifications – the tattooed lizard man with his split tongue, and those who just happen to be born that way. One such natural freak is Gary Stretch who has turned his condition of having the stretchiest skin in the world into an act. Part of the discomfort of watching the show is that usually we don’t point and stare at the different. The laughter comes through a mixture of nervous excitement that they will go too far, that they might drag you on stage to participate, and the dark cheesy humour. These people are self-professed freaks and defy pain in a way that will have you, at times, peeking through your fingers.

The retro set-up is part of the experience – a tiny stage in the middle of a mirrored wooden circus tent theatre, in the midst of a 1950s New York funfair. The atmosphere is thrilling and slightly seedy, with funfair rides, stalls, bars and side shows.

★★★★★

Eleanor MacFarlane

The Royal Family of Strange People is at the Spiegeltent, Southbank, until 29th September 2012, part of the Priceless London Wonderground Season. For further information or to book visit the Southbank website here.

Related Itemsreview

More in Theatre

The Father and the Assassin at the National Theatre

★★★★★
Natallia Pearmain
Read More

Dirty Dancing the Movie in concert at Apollo Theatre

★★★★★
Jim Compton-Hall
Read More

My Fair Lady at the London Coliseum

★★★★★
Michael Higgs
Read More

“When you’re presented with different dilemmas in life, you respond accordingly”: Debbie Kurup on The Cher Show

Mae Trumata
Read More

2:22 A Ghost Story at Criterion Theatre

★★★★★
Michael Higgs
Read More

The House of Shades at Almeida Theatre

★★★★★
Csilla Tornallyay
Read More

Grease at Dominion Theatre

★★★★★
Cristiana Ferrauti
Read More

House of Ife at Bush Theatre

★★★★★
Selina Begum
Read More

Banter Jar at Lion & Unicorn Theatre: “An authentic and timely one-woman show”

★★★★★
Jessica Wall
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap
  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Albert Adrià reopens Enigma on 7 June as a “fun-dining” restaurant and cocktail bar
    Food & Drinks
  • Paolo Nutini at the 100 Club
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Crimes of the Future: Three new clips from David Cronenberg’s dystopian body horror film
    Cannes
  • Plan 75
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • The Father and the Assassin at the National Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • November (Novembre)
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Forever Young (Les Amandiers)
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • “Ruben is wonderful at picking holes in our behaviour and our egos”: Woody Harrelson, Ruben Östlundand and cast at the Triangle of Sadness press conference
    Cannes Film Festival 2022
  • Summer Scars (Nos Cérémonies)
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Holy Spider (Les Nuits de Mashad)
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Emergency
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Men
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Triangle of Sadness
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Aftersun
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Paris Memories (Revoir Paris)
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why
With the support from:
International driving license

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Jennifer Lynch’s Chained | Movie review
Hollie Cook at the Barfly | Live review