Urban Angels create emotionally charged work that responds to interesting spaces, places and stories.
We are proud to present this historical play about Pablo Fanque, celebrating the extraordinary life of this very talented but unsung Black Victorian circus equestrian and impresario.
The arc of Pablo’s life spans from rags to riches and back to rags; born in a workhouse, sold to a circus as an apprentice, he will have learned contortion, tight-rope and acrobatics, before finally becoming an extremely skilled equestrian. Uniquely, his horses ‘danced’ to the music rather than the musicians following the horses. Moving amongst high society, Pablo was patronised by Queen Victoria, who gifted him a horse from her stables. Yet he also experienced trauma and tragedy. His circus was destroyed by a cyclone near Harewood and his first wife, Susannah, was killed by his circus building collapsing on her. Pablo is buried in Woodhouse, Leeds, West Yorkshire. Decades later, Pablo was immortalised by John Lenin on the Beatles ‘Sgt Pepper’ album, in Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite.
Urban Angels will present this moving play in our gorgeous hand-painted circus ring. We bring you a dynamic, accessible performance integrating verbatim material from posters and newspapers, new writing, dance and physical theatre to some banging tunes from the Noughties!
- 3 artists
- 40 – 45 mins show, which can be repeated
- Suitable for indoor spaces such as traditional theatres and circus tents. Can work in conjunction with Miss Lily’s Victorian Circus Game.
- Small circular aerial rig
