Clowns and song in new Wonderia

Youth performers from Warwick’s Playbox Theatre have transformed their innovative comedy, Wonderia for the main stage.

The show includes dance, song, juggling, acrobats, and clowns and was created by young people to celebrate the unifying effects of laughter as shown through clowns.

Initially put together for a performance in the Houses of Parliament last summer, Wonderia will now be performed at the youth theatre.

Director Stewart McGill said they are all ready to get going after adapting the show from it’s beginnings as a youth project at Portcullis House.

“The genesis of the idea was for last summer’s G8 conference with a huge emphasis on the British seaside,” he said,

“Now we have fully redeveloped all aspects of the show and plan to take it out on the road.”

Originally commissioned by the University of Birmingham, the comedy was created by the cast of 28 - all ranging from ages 10 to 16 from across Warwickshire and the UK.

Wonderia is the circus department’s first major show since 2011 and combines nostalgia and dance from the past eras right up to the swinging sixties.

Including sampled of music from across the eras along with circus skills and comedy, its creators have described it as a show ‘packed with nostalgia and colour’.

Theatre director, Mary King, said it provided a “wonderful context” for developing relationships among all ages.

Premiering at Birmingham university’s Bramall Theatre on September 22, the comedy will play at the Warwick theatre from September 26 to October 4.

Tickets £12 or £8 concessions from the box office on 419555 or online at www.playboxtheatre.com