Circus Ringbarkus take their status as family entertainers literally – they really are a family. The Stanton family include dad Gus who takes on the role as clown, mum Ruthy is the whistle-blowing boss, daughter Julia entertains with hula-hoops, eldest son Mick is a highly-skilled magician and youngest son Ollie assists, drums and does some of his own tricks. And we haven’t even started on the dogs: Sparkie, Scruffy, Killer and Lulu.
Maybe I should I have done some pre-show reading because this whole idea of a travelling family troupe was so incredibly distracting. I cannot imagine for a minute my parents being able to entrust one of us with the task of assisting a sibling with a juggling act. As one of my brothers stood delicately balanced on a rola-bola in front of a packed theatre how would I have been able to resist tossing one of those juggling knives directly at his skull? As the school holidays approach do Ruthy and Gus sit down and ask the kids how they would like to spend their time? And does Ollie actually answer, “I’d love to pop on an over-sized novelty tie, jump on a unicycle and ride over Mick in front of 300 strangers.” I’m not for a minute suggesting that Gus is Australia’s answer to Joseph Jackson and is whipping those kids to perform illusions between dinner and dessert – they all looked like they were having too much fun for that.
And the dogs are very loveable too. These are not prima-donna pooches frocked up with parasols and tulle skirts – all the dogs have been rescued from the pound and are suitably shabby. The dogs perform a variety of tricks such as pushing a trolley, jumping through hoops and jumping over audience members. At first I didn’t feel entirely comfortable watching the dogs leap about for the enjoyment of the packed St Martin’s Theatre but what gives this show its charm is that when working with animals things don’t always go as planned.
Aside from all the distractions, is Walkies on the Wild Side entertaining? It absolutely is; timing is everything when more than half your audience is children and this is the advantage of having parents and kids writing the show. The dog tricks are interspersed with magic performances from the Stanton children and clowning from Gus. You don’t need a very keen eye to see how some of the illusions are performed but again that’s all part of the appeal. Children from the audience are selected to participate in some parts of the show and are always treated in a respectful manner – although I did feel sorry for one young lad as gravel-voiced Gus sang him a lullaby that had more in common with the rendition of Roxanne from Moulin Rouge.
Walkies on the Wide Side is a bit chaotic, slightly unpredictable and always interesting – just like a real family. As the Stantons took their bows and wandered off stage I liked to imagine a massive knot of fighting siblings rolling down St Martin’s Lane, fists flying, hair being pulled and payback for that juggling knife in the skull.
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