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Cirque Berserk brings 'unsurpassable family entertainment' to the Assembly Hall Theatre in Tunbridge Wells

Berserk by name and berserk by nature. While most circuses boast a trapeze act or acrobatic team to induce an occasional nervous gasp, Cirque Berserk’s stock-in-trade is gut-wrenching tension, jaw-dropping stunts and heart-stopping feats of daring.

Among them is what is said to be the world’s most dangerous act live on stage – the legendary Globe of Death – in which three motorcyclists speed around inside a steel cage at over 60mph.

The legendary Globe of Death is a nail-biter for the audience
The legendary Globe of Death is a nail-biter for the audience

Add to the show a troupe of more than 30 jugglers, acrobats, aerialists, dancers, musicians and Tweedy the Clown, and you can see why Cirque Berserk’s billed as unsurpassable family entertainment.

And it’s not just on their say-so: the Daily Mail called it “the equal of anything in the history of novelty showbusiness” and the Telegraph said it “makes Cirque Du Soleil look wimpish”.

Brave aerial performer Stefanie Usher, 25, will be high up there (quite literally) creating hair-raising moments to rival the best of the Cirque Berserk crew.

“I’ve never had any fear of heights,” says ice-cool Stefanie.

“I started off as a dancer; I had gone to uni and got a first-class degree in contemporary dance but it was very hard to get work. That was the point at which I decided to diversify and went to classes which taught aerial skills and acrobatics, and then I joined a circus school and ended up with more work doing that than dancing!”

Cirque Berserk performer
Cirque Berserk performer

So Stefanie took her aerial training further, and has now been with Cirque Berserk for two years.

“There are three aerialists with Cirque Berserk,” she says.

“I specifically work on the aerial hoop and the aerial silks, and also dance between acts as they are changing the props over.”

There are times when you might joke about running off and joining the circus, but for Stefanie it became a reality and is a way of life she now loves.

“I come from Bournemouth but I travel all over the UK with Cirque Berserk, it’s something that comes with the territory. I love seeing every part of the country.

!It wouldn’t appeal to a lot of people – it’s hotel to hotel and there’s no base as such – but it’s exciting and every day’s a new adventure,” she says.

Aerial performer and dancer Stefanie Usher
Aerial performer and dancer Stefanie Usher

And she’s happy to share the limelight with her larger-than-life colleagues.

“We have the motorbikes and the crowd go crazy for them,” she says.

“There’s also knife-throwing with flaming knives, and a Cuban troupe who do a triple somersault into a chair, and a clown… there’s not a second when the audience are bored, they’re always on the edge of their seats.”

Cirque Berserk is at the Assembly Hall Theatre in Tunbridge Wells on Saturday, February 7, at 5pm and 7.45pm and on Sunday, February 8, at 3pm and 7.30pm. Visit www.assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk or call 01892 530613.

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