Review: SOPHIE'S SURPRISE PARTY, Underbelly Boulevard

If you only see one circus show this year, you should try and get out more, but Sophie's Surprise Party at Underbelly Boulevard is an excellent choice for people who don't mind having their jaws occasionally scrape the ground.

First a public service announcement. It should be a matter of deep public national embarrassment, nay shame, that circus has been treated so shabbily in the UK. We must be the only country on earth that has birthed a modern art form that has gone onto huge global success but - other than more and more series of Britain’s Got Talent - we fail to celebrate it ourselves in a meaningful and regular way. 

Every year, the most prestigious stage awards hand out prizes to many worthy categories (theatre, opera, dance) and musicals yet big top shows and its practitioners are consistently ignored. Why bother having a National Centre for Circus Arts if there is no national recognition of circus arts? If you enjoy Sophie’s Surprise Party (and you would have to try very, very hard not to), consider looking up and supporting your local circus/cabaret companies and venues wherever you are. Thank you for listening to my TED rant and now back to our regular scheduled programming. 

This isn’t Sophie’s first visit to Soho. Co-directed by Katharine Arnold, Isis Clegg-Vinell and Nathan Price (collectively operating as Three Legged Race Productions), it proved a hit when it made its London debut at the Underbelly 18 months ago and returns with an Off West End award, a tweaked name, a partly-refreshed cast and the same general loose theme: an audience member is dubbed that night’s Sophie and we’re all invited to “her” Nineties-themed birthday party complete with era-defining music and games. 

Some things haven’t changed from the last run. Those who are unaware of or bravely flaunt the first rule of cabaret can expect potentially singed eyebrows, rollerskates flying at high speed mere inches from their nose and the danger of a sore neck from gazing up at the aerialists. These performers are all experts in what they do but, for those who simply insist on being that close, it won’t hurt to check that the life insurance payments are up to date.

Sophie’s isn’t the only circus/cabaret extravaganza in town but it has its own place. Australian company Strut & Fret’s Sabrage comes with the same vibrant atmosphere and a wider variety of international acts but lacks the “in the round” intimacy of this room. Across town, Come Alive! from US producer Simon Hammerstein boasts a much bigger cast and digs deeper into the immersive side of things but its storyline is frankly incomprehensible and never really gives us The Greatest Showman experience it promises to. The Boulevard’s Soho neighbour The Box still has the edge over anything in London when it comes to beautifully depraved cabaret but, if you’re looking to grab a table to gawp at Rose Wood and her coterie of world-class acts, prepare to fork out thousands of pounds. 

Those wary of immersive theatre should be glad to hear that, while this one leans into interactive elements that build up the Nineties concept, it does so mainly through a judicious selection of pop smashes and small touches along the way. Price roams the room before the start, passing out Monster Munch to anyone taking their seat early. Maybe as a reward for their bravery, the front row at one point gets to play pass the parcel. And there’s a grand singalong later on with Price leading us into bellowing out a classic rock tune. 

Each of the six performers assumes a stereotypical role from 90s films. Price is the jock of the group, 80% muscle and 20% swagger. He vies with Cornelius Atkinson’s Goth (the spitting image of Brandon Lee’s Crow with added awkward poses and pained glares) for the hand of the blonde beauty played by Josie Jones. In a late twist, the audience is asked to choose who she walks away with but before then both busy themselves making solid cases for being the coolest guy at this party. 

Another love triangle sees Katherine Arnold’s “ugly duckling” (in false teeth, thick specs and a fabulously frizzy brown wig that even Michael Fabricant would think twice about wearing) batting her eyelids at the local wide boy (Willem McGowan) who certainly knows how to use his hands; he, meanwhile, only has time for the vampish Emma McCarthy (a Team GB acrobat and Cirque du Soleil veteran). Like those films of yore, by the end there will be regrets and reveals but Sophie’s takes it a few racy steps further than any Hollywood fodder of the era.

Each artist has talent to spare and, as they get their own turns in the spotlight, newcomers to circus will certainly relish these individual turns. Atkinson’s gorgeously dark, moody straps routine to Nirvana’s mopey “Something In The Way” is an elegiac masterpiece. The more dynamic McGowan spins us this way and that with his cheeky diablo throws. Jones brilliantly combines hairhanging and fire to create an epic fiery halo overhead.

The real secret sauce of Sophie’s, though, is the group sequences. Price bravely acts as the base for an inventive three-high that leaves Arnold dangling from the rafters. World-famous troupe Circa - who specialise in and nowadays overuse this common big top technique - could learn much from how it has been developed here into a two-for-one that leads directly into a sparkly rope act.

The finale is another fantastically creative vertical routine which sees Price on the ground and a suspended Atkinson carrying out a romantic tug of war with a third acrobat. It ends with their intended belle freefalling from up on high into the base’s arms. No ropes, no harness, just lashings of chutzpah and many hours of practice. Worth the ticket price alone? I should coco.

Sophie’s Surprise Party continues at Underbelly Boulevard until 10 January 2026.