Roll up, roll up – there’s a fun circus in town. The Moscow State Circus in Preston Park has terrifying acts, a funny clown and beautiful women to behold.

Too often these days, circuses are mere shadows of their former glories with half-empty seats, dusty sets and bored-looking performers.

The Moscow State Circus puts them all to shame with its top-notch night of entertainment. This is a show which has been properly staged with an over-arching narrative.

They’ve gone back in time to 1928, staging the circus in Park Gorkogo, aka Gorky Park, with benches and trees lining the circus ring.

The performers wear glorious vintage-style Russian costumes with Cossacks, bathing belles and fierce uniformed Russian park-keepers. The colours are bright and vibrant, and the theme absolutely suits the traditional circus acts.

There are whip-cracking aces, jugglers, beautiful acrobats and heart-stopping trapeze. Valeriy Serebryakov the clown was a real hit with the kids, dressed as a traditional mime artist rather than a white-faced clown.

There’s something very turn-of-the-century about a circus and the Moscow State Circus have a modern show which feels absolutely rooted in its tradition.

It’s also good value for a family, particularly if you grab a discount voucher which can be found around town.