When I bought my ticket to the 20th Century Circus, I didn’t realize that it would be held on Renaissance Festival grounds. It wasn’t a secret. The banner on their website’s home page says “at the Ohio Renaissance Festival”, but I just wasn’t paying attention. I saw that the circus would happen in Waynesville, and although I know that is the home of the festival, I just did not make the connection. Only on the day of the show, when I went looking for detailed directions, did I realize what should have been obvious.
The big top is placed in the open field just outside the main entrance to Renaissance Village. The festival associated 1572 Roadhouse Bar-B-Q is open a couple of hours prior to show time, and the empty village (the festiva returns in August) is open if you want to roam around. I splurged and bought a Front Row ticket. Premium Seating and General Admission are also available. Premium, it appears, is row two, and general admission is row three. I’m guessing that if more tickets were sold, more rows would be added.
The 20th Century Circus advertises itself as being set in the 1920s, and some audience members were dressed in period outfits. The acts in a 1920s circus are essentially what I’d expect in a circus of any era. The evening got started with some juggling and tightrope walking, aerial acrobatics, and a little clowning around.
It seems quite possible that I haven’t seen a spinning plates act since Ed Sullivan went off the air, but, as I did then, I enjoyed watching the performer run back and forth to try to add plates while maintaining those already spinning. Although it was only for a few seconds, this guy did get plates spinning on all six sticks, but I missed getting a photo.
Balance and acrobatics are central to a variety of circus acts, and there were several impressive demonstrations of both.
As intermission neared, we were treated to a catchy little tune about that circus and carnival staple, cotton candy. Of course, a little popcorn fits in quite nicely, as well.
There was more juggling in the second half, but flaming hatchets replaced the soft balls. I never did get an in-focus shot of the performers on the rotating ladder, but I did better on the lovely song and dance duo.
The hula hoop competition between volunteers from the audience was close, even if it didn’t last too long. I think the winner made it about 1 1/2 revolutions. The other two competitors were tied at zero. Someone stood up when the knife thrower asked for a volunteer, but cooler heads prevailed. The real winner of the hula hoop contest didn’t even joke about risking an audience member interfering with her swirling balls of fire.
This looks kind of like one of the stunts from the first half of the evening but the chairs are a whole lot bigger and so is the distance to the ground when the handstand is performed. Just assembling and disassembling the tower of chairs is rather nerve wracking to watch.
No troupe members and only a few baloons were harmed during the performance. They will be back every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for the rest of July and it’s a hoot. The pulled pork (and probably the other stuff) and beer selection at 1572 Roadhouse is pretty good, too.