14/04/06 Big Top

Another day off, but didn’t manage to do anything creative, admin ate my day. In the evening, though, Pest and I enjoyed Billy Smart’s Circus at Ingliston.  I wouldn’t have thought to do if (a) Pest hadn’t been keen and (b) Pest’s friends weren’t, but I thought it was great. Having stopped using animals, the circus was basically a series of acrobats, with a single clown appearing between every few sets. But I loved the tradition – the caravans, the big top, the canvas tunnel to the interior, the grass floor and the sheer razzamatazz (there’s a word from the museum, eh?). The audience was about 50% of capacity but the children loved it and I found myself hoping this powerful tradition of live performance by real human beings who can do things most human beings can’t doesn’t die out in our stay-at-home culture.