Press Cutting – A Captivating Spectacle (1998)

BLACKPOOL GAZETTE

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1998

Having just returned from seeing Eclipse at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, I felt I just had to put pen to paper and echo the comment made by many of your readers.

Circus is not dead in this country, it just needs a shove into the 21st century. Although Amanda Thompson does not really consider the production of Eclipse as a circus, what I witnessed was a show of quality circus artistes, performing on a fabulous set, with lighting and sound effects I have never seen outside Las Vegas and also, I must add, without a single animal act in sight.

The audience of all ages were captivated through the whole entire show.

I am no animal rights activist and I am not anti-circus. How could I be with my grandfathers being the late Billy Smart and CoCo the Clown ?

I spent much of my younger years in the shadow of a huge, successful show full of animals. But for the past few years when I have visited circus shows that have come to Blackpool and the surrounding areas, I have found myself 'trudging' through a muddy field to be sat in a nearly empty Big Top so that I can watch some poor beast jumping through a flaming hoop. This is when they say 'Circus is dead', well not dead, just very dated.

People today demand quality, excitement and something different and believe me, Eclipse is all that and a lot more !

Sirge Smart
Church Street, Blackpool.