Review – Barnum the Circus Musical
Produced by: Bill Kenwright Ltd presents the Watermill Theatre production
Music: Cy Coleman
Lyrics: Michael Stewart
Book: Mark Bramble
Director: Jonathan O’Boyle
Venue: The Arts Theatre, Cambridge
Performance: 18th August 2026
A spectacular circus extravaganza bursting with razzle-dazzle, extraordinary talent and pure theatrical joy!
The first night of Barnum is an absolute joy to experience – a vibrant, exhilarating explosion of music, dance, acrobatics, circus artistry and showmanship from start to finish. This is theatre at its most spectacular, and the Arts Theatre stage has been transformed into a dazzling circus ring where there is never a dull moment.
From the moment Eamonn Cox steps onto the stage and announces the show, the audience is swept into Barnum’s extraordinary world. And what a world it is!
The larger-than-life circus impresario P.T. Barnum is played with enormous charisma by Matt Rawle, who keeps us enthralled with his own brand of ‘humbug’, pizzazz and relentless reinvention – the qualities that kept Barnum’s American audiences entertained in the mid-to-late 1800s. As he launches into There Is a Sucker Born Every Minute, we immediately understand the man behind the showman. Rawle is magnetic, bringing energy, charm and a twinkle of mischief to every scene.
He is beautifully supported by Monique Young, entrancing as his wife Charity. She provides the stability, warmth and moral compass to offset Barnum’s increasingly outrageous showmanship and ambition. Together they shine, particularly in their soaring rendition of The Colours of My Life, which is simply outstanding.
But it is the circus performers who make this production truly breathtaking. With the stage transformed into a circus ring, the incredibly talented ensemble brings Barnum’s world vividly to life. Divided into two casts, the actor-musicians provide the music, song and dance, playing over 100 instruments between them, while the circus troupe delivers a succession of jaw-dropping aerial and ground acrobatics.
Trained by Zippos Circus and The National Centre for Circus Arts, these performers are phenomenal. Aerial hoops, silks, fire-eating and a host of other circus skills keep us spellbound. Watching them perform throughout the evening is exhilarating and at times genuinely breathtaking. Barnum’s own tightrope walking is a wonderfully suspenseful piece of theatre, combining danger, humour and showmanship to terrific effect.
With choreography by Strictly star Oti Mabuse, the production positively crackles with energy. There is so much to see that it can be difficult to know where to look. Even during the quieter and more intimate scenes, there is often something happening in the background, creating the wonderfully frenetic atmosphere of a circus that never stops.
The story follows Barnum’s journey from small-town dreamer to global impresario and eventually political figure – and, given his talent for ‘humbug’, perhaps we can see where that comes from! Along the way, he turns the people he discovers into extraordinary attractions. The ‘oldest woman in the world’ only becomes successful when promoted as ‘Washington’s nurse’; the smallest man in the world is transformed into General Tom Thumb; and the pairing of Tom Thumb with Jumbo, the largest elephant, provides one of the show’s delightful moments, featuring a wonderfully inventive puppet elephant.
Then comes Swedish singer Jenny Lind, transformed by Barnum into the ‘Swedish Nightingale’. Played by Penny Ashmore, Lind is a star and a beauty, with Ashmore’s stunning soprano vocals and harp playing providing a complete contrast to the circus.
Barnum’s infatuation with Jenny ultimately comes at the expense of Charity, who is cast aside, and this is where I felt the production could have benefited from greater emotional depth. The story takes us through Barnum’s highs and lows, his ambition and its consequences, but the emotional impact is sometimes overwhelmed by the sheer amount of razzmatazz, with the quieter human moments in danger of being lost beneath the spectacle.
But that is a relatively small criticism of what is overall an utterly joyous, spectacular and hugely entertaining production.
The audience was completely absorbed, clapping along enthusiastically during the circus finale and rewarding the wonderful cast with a thoroughly deserved standing ovation. It completely obliterated my guest’s stressful work day – what a cure!
Barnum is a riot of colour, music, movement, circus brilliance and old-fashioned theatrical magic. If you love theatre that makes you smile, gasp, cheer and marvel, this is a show you absolutely should not miss. It is spectacular entertainment from beginning to end – a dazzling celebration of the greatest showman of them all.
