Sophie’s Surprise Party review: the modern day PT Barnum circus troupe

I wandered into the Underbelly in Soho expecting a quirky Fringe import and instead found yourself in the middle of a full-blown circus that barely stops to breathe.

The show started life in Edinburgh and you can still feel that informal inventive energy running through it. The cast is only six strong and they each pull their weight (some of them quite literally).

It’s a spectacle which involves aerial ropes, rollerskating, acrobatics, hand-to-hand trapeze, juggling and actual fire. It comes flying at you in quick succession. It’s thrilling to watch, occasionally alarming too.

Beware: if you’re sitting in the front row, you’ll spend moments worried that a performer is going to swing straight into your lap!

It’s loosely tied together with a youthful 90s nostalgia theme. One audience member is chosen as the evening’s ‘Sophie’, whose surprise birthday party we’re supposedly attending.

It’s playful and silly, but it didn’t quite land for me. The show would be even stronger if it stopped pretending to be theatre and simply revelled in what it actually is: a modern-day circus with a super-talented cast. They’re the PT Barnum troupe of today.

It has close to zero plot, but Sophie’s Surprise Party is a blast. It feels fresh, fearless and full of charm. Long may it stay in London.

Sophie’s Surprise Party runs at the Underbelly Boulevard Soho until 10th January.