The circus has changed a great deal - and for the better - in recent years, and companies such as No Fit State are signposting the way for British outfits keen to combine circus skills with narrative and emotion. Giffords, a tiny 300-seater circus that tours village greens and commons during the summer, offers a tantalising glimpse of another route.
Caravan is an exhilarating clash of cultures. It is as if a rural hiring fair straight out of Thomas Hardy had suddenly been invaded by something exotic and eastern: addling ducks and fat rabbits rub shoulders with Hungarian herdsmen; the traditional moocher of English country lanes (Tweedy the clown in great comic form) bumps into a French brass band; Russian acrobats turn up at an English village wedding.
In truth, although there are plenty of awe-inspiring wonders, the skill levels are those that you would expect from any professional circus. But it is the wonderful intimacy, the engagement with the audience, the wistful emotional texture and the way that it is framed that makes it so enchanting. This must be the only circus in the world that references Hamlet and The Winter's Tale, while the sexual tension of a meeting between a lady on a horse and a falconer, causes thoughts to drift towards Lady Chatterley and her gamekeeper.
In fact, it is all good, clean fun. It is brilliant for any age, in that it wears its intelligence lightly, and offers a strong aesthetic that conjures both an apple-cheeked Englishness and the vivid colours and sounds of the east. I loved it, and the night after I saw it, I dreamt about it, too.
· Ends tonight. Then touring. Box office: 0845 459 7469.
