Unmissable: Sabotage by NoFit State Circus at Withybush Showground

I have just four words to say about NoFit State Circus’ show Sabotage, currently playing in Pembrokeshire; go and see it.

Honestly, if you do one thing this week you should head to Haverfordwest Showground, sit yourself down in the big top and give yourself over to two hours of breathtaking circus.

I was going to finish that last sentence with the word acrobatics, but Sabotage is so much more than that.

(Image: Mary Wycherley)

It is drama, and music, playful joy and darkness, as well as awesome acrobatics and aerial performances, bound together in a seamless show that will leave you wanting more.

It is hard to put the brilliance of this performance, and these performers, into words.

(Image: Mary Wycherley)

Let’s start with the performers, a tribe of beautifully muscled athletes and acrobats who put you in awe of the things the human body can do. There is a gorgeous sense of camaraderie and fun between them and they act their way through each piece giving it a sense of drama and emotion.

Many of the troupe are also musicians and it is not at all unusual to see a performer leave the ring after a series of gravity-defying manoeuvres, head to the band and pick up an instrument.

(Image: Mary Wycherley)

And if they are not on the stage or playing an instrument, then they are climbing the rigging surrounding the stage, providing a counterbalance to an aerialist high up in the big top.

At the end when the troupe come out to take their curtain call you cannot believe how few of them there are to have produced a show that is so big in its offer.

And we must mention the music. It is so polished and well-performed that you think you’re listening to a recording, only to glance across the big top to see the live band giving it their all. The music itself would stand alone and when you layer it with what’s going on onstage, you have a dynamic combination.

As for the performance, it is eye-poppingly entertaining. Literally. There are moments when you can’t believe what you are seeing and others where there is so much going on onstage that you just don’t know where to look.

(Image: Mary Wycherley)

If you can tear your eyes away from the stage for just a second, look along the row of people sat next to you. It is a treat to see faces raised and awe and wonder sparkling in their eyes.

There are layers of metaphor to each piece, making it work on many levels; you can either just enjoy what your eyes are seeing or let your brain delve deeper into the meaning.

(Image: Mark J Robson)

Favourite moments for me were a woman emerging from the stage suspended by her hair and hauled to the heights of the big top; the poignancy of two men in women’s clothes walking hand in hand across the stage, a beautiful acrobat hanging by a string from above our heads, a huge scaffolding hoop descending from the ceiling, adorned by acrobats amid multicoloured confetti and the shadowed silhouettes of the performers, spotlit against the canvas of the big top.

(Image: Mark J Robson)

There is so much more but you should really see it for yourself. I didn’t want it to end and had tears in my eye when it did.

NoFit State Circus is a national treasure. We are so lucky to have this calibre of performance based in Wales and even luckier to have them in Pembrokeshire until the end of the week.

(Image: Mark J Robson)

I’ll say it again- If you do one thing this week, go and see Sabotage. You won’t regret it.

NoFit State Circus’ Sabotage is at Haverfordwest Showground until Sunday, June 30.

There are 7pm evening shows until Friday, June 28, a matinee and evening show on Saturday, and a final 3pm show on Sunday.

For more information and to book tickets, visit nofitstate.org, linked above.