Giffords Circus
- Credit: Candia McKormack
Tonight we were all
Hooley-gans... and it was marvellous.
Never have I wanted more to be part of this beautiful, bohemian, wildly dysfunctional family. With the incandescent light of Nell Gifford shining brighter than ever – tonight’s show was summoned into being by Nell herself with friend and director Cal McCrystal before her death in December 2019 – the energy is electrifying.
Giffords Circus, May 2021
- Credit: Candia McKormack
The concept of
The Hooley – of faeries, goblins, pixies, elves, and other creatures not quite of this world – is exactly what we all need right now. Being transported to a Celtic land of leprechauns, pots of gold and fly agaric-induced dreaming may seem fey and a form of escapism, but what can be wrong with that? In fact, the more you think about it, the more Giffords Circus’s magical production makes so much more sense than anything else that’s happened in the last 14 months. The cure for the surreal world of Covid – of not being able to hug those dear to you, of wearing masks in public places, of disinfecting things we touch – is perhaps to transcend this plane of existence and live amongst the fleeting and fragile world of faery.