Audacious Mr Astley ^expired Free

The man who invented circuses comes to #Kent in person! With his wife, war hero and trick-rider Phillip Astley roped off a Ring in an open field in Lambeth, London, near today's Waterloo Station, and from Easter Monday 1768 performed astounding displays of equestrian expertise. Building on their early success, the couple added a clown, rope-walkers and acrobats to their presentation, and the circus was born. Professional ringmaster and actor Chris Barltrop performs his own 45-minute one-man play in which the man himself tells his story and reveals his character and personality. Five-star rating at this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival, praised by the critics as 'fascinating, engaging' ; 'entertaining, informative, classy!