Shaun the Sheep’s Circus Show: Review

On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: three French hens; two turtle doves; and a dozen sheep doing acrobatics on a Chinese pole. Part-circus, part-slapstick, part-live-action cartoon, whatever your age, only one thing is certain: Shaun the Sheep’s Circus Show has officially catapulted into Salford.  

Straight from the mind of Australian circus director, Yaron Lifschitz, Shaun the Sheep’s Circus Show sees farmland fun and daring acrobatics collide in a truly un-baaa-lievable family performance.

Thrilled by the arrival of his new television set, The Farmer is all but ready to put his feet up and have a day off from tending to his flock – who unfortunately have other ideas on how best to spend a bright summer’s day on Mossy Bottom Farm. From soaring the skies on paper aeroplanes to tormenting Royal Mail’s most flexible postman, things quickly turn sunny side down for the flock after they snap The Farmer’s satellite cable in two. Armed with nothing but a camera and crossed hooves, it’s up to Shaun, baby Timmy, sheepdog Blitzer, and the rest to put on their own show for The Farmer before he realises his brand-new TV hasn’t even made it through the first act.  

Shaun the Sheep’s Circus Show is based on the hit TV series from Richard Starzak and Aardman, and has no qualms about embracing it, either. The performance integrates a gigantic screen that sweeps on and off the stage, showing anything from TV clips and live camera footage to FaceTime calls with the postman, who perhaps ought to consider life insurance before his next visit to Mossy Bottom. 

The rest of the set comprises of a gigantic, three-tiered astroturf slide topped with a miniature farmhouse, with a built-in window to The Farmer’s living room right in the middle. While recovering from the whiplash of a Shaun the Sheep house remix, it’s a delight to lock eyes with a wayward sheep peeking out of the rooftop or sneaking behind the armchair, causing trouble where they’re not meant to be.  

Hooves down, the highlight of the show was the sheer skill of the performers themselves. Far from the star jumps and roly-polies expected of many family shows, some of the genuinely death-defying stunts had the audience smelling a Sunday roast on a Tuesday as members of the Merrigong Theatre Company and Circa Contemporary Circus swung on silks, hoops, and even each other. Particular praise goes to the performers playing Shaun and Timmy, who both came inches from becoming shepherd’s pie in their displays on the silks and Chinese pole, neither of whom had any obvious safety precautions. Praise too goes to the performer playing Timmy’s Mum, who lifted a fully-grown adult into the air one-handed as though doing a bicep curl in a genuinely impressive feat of strength. Gasps and applause greeted The Farmer’s flock five minutes into their entrance, and their stunts only grew bolder from there.  

It must be said the show came much more intuitively to the younger audience than the adults in the room: it’s easy to feel a sense of whiplash for much of the first act, which launches into a mile-a-minute frenzy which may be a lot to take in for those new to Shaun the Sheep. It’s helpful to know beforehand that the show focuses more on artistry than strict plot, though there is a remarkable effort to introduce the few named characters to the audience from the get-go. Shaun the Sheep’s Circus Show is much better simply enjoyed than made perfect sense of, and this works in its favour – for grown ups and kids alike, sometimes it’s nice to sit back and allow ourselves to be amazed every now and then.   

Shaun the Sheep’s Circus Show is at Aviva Studios from 11 December 2025 to 4 January 2026.