Follow your dreams, ladies and gentlemen, follow your dreams.

Carnivals and cotton candy
Carousels and caliopes
Fortune tellers in glass cases
We will always remember these.

We're on a carousel,
a crazy carousel
and then we go around again,
above the ground again
and then around again....

Merrygorounds quickly turning, quickly turning for you and me
And the whole world madly turning, madly turning
till
you
can't
see.
(Camille O'Sullivan's opening song of Le Clique).

Well my time at the magical circus world of the floating Spiegeltent has come to end. My body and liver are happy that they're finally getting a rest but the rest of me is quite deflated; life will forever feel quite dull compared to those few weeks of sparkle and wonder.

We ran two shows a day for 16 nights in the mirrored, velvet-draped round hall. Le Clique went up at 730pm every night and a second show, be it gig, club night, cabaret etc would follow at 10pm. For staff it was a manic evening getting two shows set up usually involving completely different seating structures (if I never see those stacks of 8 wooden chairs again I'll be a happy woman) Once the second show was up and running, however, we could relax a bit, have a German sausage or chips (only food available), enjoy the show while clearing some glasses now and again.

The most enjoyable late shows for me were: Camille's cabaret night 'The Cat's Miaow' where Jack L sang without a mic playing a toy accordain, and Duke Special played the Steinway grand piano, his beautiful singing voice (with a lilt of Belfast) ringing clearly through the venue. Pirate Sounds as detailed in the previous blog, especially the rendition of Hey Day by all the musicians at the end of the evening. Seasick Steve hobo/blues man who thoroughly rocked the venue; at one point, with every soul stamping along to a tune, I genuinely felt worried for the structure of the tent. The Vertical Rhythm Club ran by my swing teacher Jessica featuring the Hi-Tones and lots of dance performances like Charlestons, Steal Dances etc was turbo enjoyable for me, we swung and lindyed and basically shook our booties till the wee hours :)

Le Clique was just magical: from Miss Behave, one of the world's few female sword swallowers to the delicious David O'Mer and his bathtub, the acrobatic (and muscley) British Gents and Hoolahoop girls, Amy G and her kazoo up the yazoo act (I'll explain over drinks some day), Camille's saucy rendition of 'In these shoes?' and throaty 'Ne Me Quitte Pas', Ireland's own Tumble Circus acts and just in the final few days the hilarious Tina C. drag country singer act--'Gimme a hell ya!' discussing her gig with Pave-erotti at the Pope's funeral "I couldn't quite understand the grief...I mean surely it was more of a pet situation than a parent situation.....Y'all were gonna get a new one!'

Captain Frodo aka the Incredible Rubber Man was my favourite. His two acts had impeccable comic timing and always caused the most jaw-dropping behaviour in the audience. First off he pushed his naturally double-jointed body through two tennis rackets (while dressed like a tennis player from the 70's) bending, contorting and dislocating on his way and later he climbs a tower of wobbling cans before sitting on the top on (size of a can of beans) and bending his two legs behind his back. He gives a speech from the top of the cans beginning 'Isn't it amazing what you can do for a living?!' and going on to urge the audience to give their own special talent (no matter how freakish) a go. "Follow your dreams, ladies and gentlemen, follow you dreams' he concluded and each time he said it, it sent tremors through me.

I watched le Clique every night and never tired of it. Once I knew the show inside out I just watched the audience; the gaspers, the sighers, the ones who hid behind their hands but most of all I loved the sea of smiles, really radiant, genuine smiles that showed people utterly lost in the moment. For me that's what theatre should do; it should take people out of themselves for even short time, make them forget their everyday worries and deadlines. It should make them laugh or gasp, and clap or cheer, not just sit there in uncomfortable silence.

I know a lot of my theatre buddies will say that's just escapism and that theatre needs to be more political and meaningful but frankly does it? People have enough misery in the lives without being depressed by tragic plays (*cough* Eugene O'Neill *cough* Sean O'Casey* *cough* Arthur Miller) on their Friday or Saturday night. When did cabaret/vaudeville/comedy become 'low art' and tragedy the only acceptable 'high art'? Make 'em laugh god damn it! Entertain them, show them something they can't see on TV or the internet. Get a reaction!

Go to the circus people and bring your kids. Embrace the magic whenever you can; life would be so boring if it weren't for circuses and carnivals, costumes and the stage. Life is a cabaret old friend, come to the cabaret....