Giffords Circus Announces Creative Team
Star of 2019 Lil Rice and acclaimed director Cal McCrystal get ready to take founder Nell Gifford’s unique vision forwards for a 20th anniversary ‘showstopper’!
The star of the 2019 show, Lil Rice and acclaimed director Cal McCrystal, together with long-time Giffords Circus’ musical director James Keay and rising star set and costume designer takis, are set to take circus co-founder and producer Nell Gifford’s extraordinary vision forwards this year with a brand-new show.
Conceived by Nell before her untimely death in December 2019, “The Hooley” will be a showstopper; a celebration of the first 20 years and the next 20 years, with Nell’s niece Lil stepping into the role of producer as well as being the new face of the circus and Cal McCrystal, returning to the helm as director for a ninth time in this 20th anniversary year. Along with Tweedy the clown, champion vaulter Rebecca Mussel white,the return of Giffords stalwart, singer/dancer Nancy Trotter-Landry, and many other audience favourites, Nell will continue to live through the Circus in what is a truly family affair.
Having wowed audiences with her lead vocals and cyr wheel act in the 2019 show, Xanadu and worked alongside her aunt and mentor Nell for the past two years, Lil Rice fulfils a unique position as producer and the new face of Giffords Circus.
She said, “I am honoured to be stepping into the role of producer.”
“It was always Nell’s plan to ensure continuity of the circus and I am thrilled to be implementing her vision. It is of course bittersweet having lost Nelly only a few months ago, but it remains a family business and a legacy that we carry on for Nell’s twins, Red and Cecil.”
Physical comedy virtuoso Cal (One Man, Two Guvnors, Paddington, Paddington 2) will be leading rehearsals for “The Hooley” this month, getting ready for the opening night and launch of the 2020 tour at Fennells Farm, Stroud on 9th April.
“There will be fairies, trolls, pixies, leprechauns, wild horses, Celtic music and dancing and all the madcap magic that Giffords is synonymous for,” said McCrystal.
“Nell and I had a great time planning this show and being of Irish descent I can’t wait for rehearsals to start to create what promises to be a most magical and poignant show to celebrate our 20th year.”
Giffords Circus is running an extended tour this year, opening in time for the Easter holidays and will be at two new grounds Bowood House & Gardens in Wiltshire and National Trust owned Morden Hall Park in south London, as well as returning to old Cotswolds favourites Minchinhampton Common and Barrington in Burford in what promises to be a thrilling 20th anniversary tour.
Established in 2000 by Nell and Toti Gifford, Giffords Circus is a magical village green circus that tours England throughout the summer. Combining dance, comedy, horses and live music in a small white tent surrounded by hand-made burgundy and gold showman’s wagons, it has a broad and dedicated following of farmers, children, artistes, sports people, models, actors, rock stars, and royalty.
PRAISE FOR GIFFORD CIRCUS
“The greatest show on earth!” Vogue
“I held the jewel of my childhood up to my eye, and through it I saw ponies and a dressing-up box and a tent, and that was Gifford Circus” Nell Gifford
"The most fun you can have in a tent. Genius. Children vomiting with laughter" Hugh Grant
"On the most beautiful imaginable midsummer evening where better to celebrate than the magical, glorious, entirely homemade spectacle that is Giffords Circus …Truly, there is nothing like it in the world." Elizabeth Gilbert
"If you get the chance to go to Giffords Circus don’t hesitate. Absolutely brilliant soundtrack, tricks, visuals and laugh” Cerys Matthews
“It’s not your average big tent affair but a wonderland. It’s the best live show I’ve ever seen. I’d love to join the circus” Rachel Weisz
“An amazing evening, two hours of just joy” Anneka Rice
“This was my third visit to Giffords and they are always so joyful and thrilling, terrifyingly thrilling!” Jennifer Saunders
“Ran away to Giffords Circus and it was truly spectacular! So funny with fabulous live music, vintage style and tons of talent. Catch it if you can.” Lauren Laverne
“She was an incredible force of nature and immediately made you at ease, welcomed you like you were part of the family – the circus is like a big family and she saw the world in this way. She was stunning looking, an extremely sexy woman. Giffords Circus was her, transcended into a world of magic. She was a magician.” Vivienne Westwood
GIFFORDS CIRCUS “THE HOOLEY” TOUR DATES
Thursday 9th April – Monday 20th April
Fennells Farm, Stroud, Gloucestershire
Thursday 23rd April – Monday 4th May
*NEW* Bowood House & Gardens, Wiltshire
Thursday 7th May – Monday 18th May
Daylesford Organic Farm, Kingham, Gloucestershire
Thursday 21st May – Monday 1st June
Sudeley Castle, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire
Thursday 4th June – Monday 8th June
Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire
Thursday 11th June – Monday 22nd June
Oxford University Parks, Oxford
Thursday 25th June – Monday 13th July
Chiswick House & Gardens, London
Thursday 16th July – Monday 20th July
*NEW* Morden Hall Park, London
Thursday 23rd July – Monday 3rd August
Stonor Park, Oxfordshire
Thursday 6th August – Monday 17th August
Barrington, Burford, Oxfordshire
Thursday 20th August – Tuesday 1st September
Minchinhampton Common, Gloucestershire
Friday 4th September – Monday 7th September
Marlborough Common, Wiltshire
Thursday 10th September – Monday 14th September
Stratton Meadows, Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Thursday 17th September – 27th September
Fennells Farm, Stroud, Gloucestershire
To purchase tickets and find out more please visit: www.giffordscircus.com
Further information in the press release attached
For images and all media enquiries please contact Annabel Robinson at FMcM on 020 7405 7422 or email annabelr@fmcm.co.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS:
Nell Gifford 1973 – 2019
Co-founder, producer and artistic director of the much-loved Giffords Circus based in the Cotswolds. She ran away with the circus when she was eighteen and fell instantly in love with this forgotten art form. She read English at New College Oxford and then joined the first circus that came to town before working on several shows in the UK before joining Circus Roncalli in Germany.
Circus Roncalli inspired Nell and her fiancé, Toti Gifford, a farmer’s son from Cheltenham, to start their own circus, which they called Giffords Circus. The show first appeared at Hay Festival in 2000 and has toured the Cotswolds, home counties and London, having entertained over a million people since, beloved of locals, farmers, rock stars, royalty and runaways everywhere.
A fellow of Gloucestershire and Hereford University, Nell published four books about circus life and history – Josser: The Secret Life of a Circus Girl, Who was…Philip Astley? The Inventor of the Circus and Giffords Circus: The First Ten Years, and most recently Nell & The Circus of Dreams. Nell has co-written a cookery book which will be published in March 2020 - GIFFORDS CIRCUS COOKBOOK: Recipes & Stories from a Magical Circus Restaurant by Nell Gifford & Ols Halas (Quadrille, £27).
Cal McCrystal – Director
Since 2012 the show has been directed by Cal McCrystal, whose credits include Paddington, Paddington 2 and One Man Two Guvnors. Maverick, naughty and uncompromising, Cal leads the company through a three-week rehearsal period at the Giffords Circus farm in the Cotswolds
Cal McCrystal is delighted to be returning for his ninth year as director at Giffords Circus. He was born in Belfast and trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama and at École Philippe Gaulier. As an actor he has worked extensively in television, theatre, film and radio. As a writer/director his productions are regularly seen worldwide.
He is Physical Comedy Director for the Royal National Theatre’s West End and Broadway hit, One Man, Two Guvnors and is Comedy Director for the acclaimed clown routines in Cirque du Soleil’s touring circus, Varekai and erotic cabaret, Zumanity, now enjoying its 10th successful year in Las Vegas. He directed the original Mighty Boosh shows, winning the Perrier Award for Best New Comedy and Iolanthe at the English National Opera. He returns to Giffords straight from rave reviews for the Atomic Saloon Show that debuted at the 2019 Edinburgh Festival before moving to Las Vegas.
Lil Rice – Producer
Lil Rice studied philosophy and theology at Glasgow University and decided that she might not make a very good vicar. After writing to her aunt Nell, she started her circus career at Giffords circus in 2011 dancing and singing in the cast of War and Peace. Lil went on to study circus and business at The National Centre for Circus Arts in London graduating with first class honours. The act that Lil created is a unique - singing while performing acrobatics in a cyr wheel.
After winning the Deutsche Bank business plan award she went on to tour the UK and Europe with the Company Alula Cyr. Alula Cyr went on to set world records, perform, speak and teach at circus festivals and tour their all-female, self-produced show HYENA across the UK, France, Finland and Sweden. In 2017/2018 she wrote and released a country/blues album with her band – Lil & Ollie, before returning to Giffords Circus in the summer of 2018 to be with Nell and star in the 2019 show Xanadu with her singing cyr wheel act. Lil carries on Nell’s legacy for Giffords Circus for Nell’s twins, Red and Cecil.
James Keay – Composer & Musical Director
James spent the nineties listening to Elizabethan music in the attic of his home in Winchester. Later he learnt the violin and piano, studying composition in Cambridge before running away to the circus some years ago. He spent a winter in a smuggler’s cottage in Deal writing an album with the folk singer Sam Lee.
takis – Costume & Set Designer
Greek designer takis studied set and costume design, at the Romanian National University of the Arts in Bucharest, technical theatre arts at RADA and design methodologies at the London College of Fashion. He is currently completing a doctorate at Aalto University in Finland. Opera and ballet design credits include set designs for Phaedra (Royal Opera at the Linbury Theatre), the ballet The Little Mermaid (Finnish National Oper), and designs for Monteverdi’s Ulysses’s Homecoming, Cavalli’s La Calisto, Handel’s Ottone and Haydn’s Life on the Moon for (English Touring Opera), Isabeau, La rondine and Die Fledermaus (Opera Holland Park) and Semele (Royal Academy Opera). His many theatre designs include Stovepipe (National Theatre), Ditch (Old Vic), and The Memory of Water (New Vic Theatre/SJT). His major musical credits include Five Guys Named Moe, The Toxic Avenger and In the Heights (West End), Flashdance (UK and Oslo), and Hairspray (UK).
To purchase tickets and find out more please visit: www.giffordscircus.com
Further information in the press release attached
For images and all media enquiries please contact Annabel Robinson at FMcM on 020 7405 7422 or email annabelr@fmcm.co.uk
