Black Cat: Bohemia, Underbelly Festival at Southbank

The Black Cat Cabaret, London’s much-loved curators of dark and daring entertainment, are inviting audiences to join them for a night at the circus with their latest theatrical spectacular: Bohemia. As of 22 August, the company is taking up a six-week residency at the Paradiso spiegeltent, where they’ll be premiering Black Cat: Bohemia as a headline act at the Underbelly Festival at Southbank this summer.

The company has over a decade’s experience of working together and describe Black Cat: Bohemia as their most ambitious show to date. In this thrilling theatrical spectacle, the show’s 12-strong cast will be elevating cabaret and circus to new levels of jaw-dropping glamour, combining highly-skilled acrobatic feats and spectacular ensemble work with comic turns and live music. Black Cat: Bohemia is a chance to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the world’s first circus, a stone’s throw from where Philip Astley first created a rope ring just streets away in the marshland around Waterloo station.

The Underbelly Festival is celebrating its 10th birthday this summer and with it comes the pop-up’s biggest programme yet. The fun-loving line-up features exciting live acts in circus, comedy, cabaret and family entertainment. Most shows are short – just an hour long – and tickets are usually under £20, making the Underbelly Festival accessible and affordable. It’s well worth allowing time on your visit to soak up the atmosphere around the performance spaces (which you can also drop in and enjoy without seeing a show); with international street food, outdoor bars, fairy lights and music, this is an authentic festival experience right off the river Thames.