The Black Blues Brothers – an acrobatic tribute to the legendary cult movie, The Blues Brothers – will bring their spectacular contemporary circus and musical comedy to the MAST Mayflower Studios stage on Friday 7 and Saturday 8 October.
This incredible acrobatic troupe of Kenyan acrobats have dazzled audiences around the world, and performed for Pope Francis at the Vatican and the British Royal Family at the Royal Variety Show. Now they’re back in the UK after a sell-out, five-star run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Set in a nightclub, reminiscent of the Cotton Club, a vintage radio blasts out nostalgic ‘80s hits from the film, including Gimme Some Lovin’, Sweet Home Chicago and Soul Man.
As the barman and waiters transform into performers, the acrobats perform jaw-dropping balancing acts, towers of chairs, high-octane drumming, a fire-laced limbo routine and extraordinary human pyramids, using every chair, table and coat rack available,
The Black Blues Brothers bring the energy of African circus to Southampton, having trained at the Sarakasi Trust in Nairobi. The Sarakasi Trust presents the best of Kenyan creativity and empowers trainees and contracted artists by giving them tools to manage their craft and careers.
This support system is seen no more clearly than in the mind-blowing pyramids performed by the troupe. It is through their circus that they escape their surroundings and unleash their joie de vivre.
The Black Blues Brothers was masterfully conceived by Alexander Sunny, impresario, circus historian and professor of history of the circus and street performances at the University of Milan. The show has been seen by over a quarter of a million people in Europe alone, in more than 200 cities.
- Tickets for The Black Blues Brothers (7-8 October) are on sale at mayflowerstudios.org.uk or 02380 711811.
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