A VERY FINE SHOW

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 18, 22 January 1924, Page 2

A VERY FINE SHOW

WSRTM BROS;I.CIRCUS

■ -For quarter of a century .Wirth Bros.' circus has been looked forward'to from year, to . year. by ' -youngsters—young youngsters and . grownup youngsters, . too— a3 a show of considerable' moment, : but not before, if memory serves one . right, has their show been as- bright and varied and so real a circus in all its departmentsas this year's.-'-' In'every way it is a very fine evening^, entertainment, and every monibsr of the big tentful which saw the first Wellington -performance _ last evening must surely; have enjoyed thetwoand a half crowded hours, it has been said, very many times, that •to see one circus is'to see aU, but that is 'tar from the' truth. ■ Certainly the circus form must be'the' same, there must be a brass band, performing ani, mals, great cats and little, peculiarly eleeu horses, peppy ponies, lion-tamers for tlie lions, fhovsemen and -horsewomen in tighla to ride the horses; ringmasters with, loud-smacking whips,and time to spare for quips with clowns or dum-mies-wlip, however, arc-seldom dumb —t:ght-wire walkers, .trapeze artists, T ]n Tn° n' and;''^ on, : but who vshall- say that: all : ,,.eircuse 3 are ; ;.for that reason ■ Uie : - same, any more than that all books are quite the same because all are printed- black and white? x ha circus -^ js ha]f the fun, just as pantomime form is half ■ the pantomime, but the - details, An. the handling of Wirth Bros., Ltd.f make toi- variety from year to year. ".•.: lie programme of the JL924 show includes many first appearances, in .fact, .almost all the artists are making their -first lour, through New Zealand, - and half-a dozen of the acts are particular-. Jy fine. „ Jhe nud-uir acrobatics of the i-loyd troupe, has not been approached fn a tnh y'-f. Cfc m? eS Canvas oron-the stage' for thrills an d darfhg.- The W^men m the troupe get through their iteckrisking- work -with marvellous precision and dash,-winding up the quarter-hour

ouiii oy wipje somersaulting, to tho net below. Evans and Perez,-from France, are also.m the first flight of high-daEs exponents of daring mid-air work,•..their specialty being .pole-vwrk,., the lighter man of the two being at one erid, stiintingwithlua .finger tips-touching, the tent roof when he reaches up, the other doing, the .heavy, and also extremely delicate work of seeing that the balance is perfect. Their, bright turn concludes with n nudrair tableau, representing the sinking of the battleship Hogue, in which a highly spectacular Burprise is sprung upon the' audience". The foot--juggling of the : bottom man is.also firstrate. Oarmella is another of the "firstappearances. " His work for the first lew minutes is of a fairly quiet, iueS'"?S °rtler, balls, knives', -.hoops,' and" odds and ends, but jnsfc when the, audience is convincing itself that he at anyJ rate c annot pvoyidii anythin g. ]ike . a thrill he throws out a few wooden balls, three inches or so in diameter to mambers of the audience, and when they are returned, catches'them upon a steel fork held in his teeth. : ■ Thfe man who throws makes it willing, but Car-" niella does not miss, he cannot afford' to do so. Prince Guiseppe BigVioli; billed as the smallest .rider in the world, which h e probably is, is certainly one of the lugh lights of the whole circus .for not only is he a wonderfully capable rider in spite of his dwarf stature, he is a niimori|t supreme. -Possiblyrhe-is-too smalt tp-bart.,hira.self when he falls for he surely, does bounce remarkably His mixture of clever riding . and . still' more clever tomfcolery keeps the tent'lauch-* in X very, heartily. ■'" ' ' '.'-,. ' " ' In-" i %ochagd r:^,nd'"; Carmiila; ''South' American clowns, Wirth Bros. liKve a couple of. nonsense entertainers- wliose' turns are really excellent, Their ideas' are. something quite ne'Wto ;New.; Zea-" .land, they are clowns de luxe/in every' .way. As comedy bull-fighters they tickle youngsters and' grown-ups -' im-; mensely, and_ as dancers -who- actually; dance to their own music—not' forgetmg that latest and best-known' of %\V bes.-known jazzes, having to do with the_ temporary shortage of a particular' variety of truit-they carry on the fun.: In between times they carry, on some, more, nnd generally help to brighten up ' a bright saow after the manner of. those really good clowns one reads about or remembers as a small boy. There are . other;funnymen as well.-but the South' Americans: lead by a long way. - ' -the final turn.'is provided by, the Hughes family x of trick cyclists, in their ongmal act of basket, fiall on cycles, ™? 11-T ™ore eXcitin S than one would think, and serves,to send the audience: home in very good humour -.with the whole show. There, are other turns besides those so far mentioned, and air should be mentioned if-space would permit, , Ihe four great performing, liens make juvenile eyes pop with wonder at the daring of the man inside the cagfe ti u f T'-^T Ireland '-■■*•&■ MmTe: tent top but escapes without a scratch: dephante, eight of them, parade anderform according to directions ? horses here are m plenty with athletic riders to manage them; a couple■ of.'.'boxinjr ponies pummel and puff with the strenuoiisness and excitement of it- ilimi and J^ouie introduce a novelty DecTestal b^ J f ffed S larke =om6rsau\ts P to ' thS wfir a l f a'°PlnS horseXand Miss Williams .daintily-steps the tight wire. Xhe menagerie alone is a very fair show. tin,, "^ 6- f lrCU3' ich wi]l 6°ntinue aU the week, with: a matinee'each afternoon, is veiy well worth a, visit-