Phillip Gandey, who has died of cancer aged 67, was the UK’s leading circus director, who created and ran Gandey’s Circus and Cirque Surreal during a career spanning more than 50 years, pioneering the move away from animal shows and introducing Britain to all things circus. The human show of the Chinese State Circus.
Philip George Gandey was born on 26 February 1956 in Sandbach, Cheshire, a member of the 150-year-old Gandey circus dynasty. His father, Joe, was a clown and his mother, Mary, was a trapeze artist. It was expected that she would appear in the show and become Britain’s youngest clown, Starri, at the age of five. He later did a knife-throwing and rope-twirling Wild West Extravaganza as Brett Montana.
Meanwhile, the family circus was on constant tour, so he attended about 1,200 schools, but he was always a popular kid who could give out free tickets.
While touring the Scottish Borders in 1973, Joe Gandey died suddenly. Mary told 17-year-old Phillip that he could walk away or take charge. She chose to stay. It was a tremendous challenge, but in the 1970s and 1980s, with the business acumen of his wife Carol, Phillip Gandey transformed a small two-pole tent circus into the largest major entertainment event in Europe.
Phillip Gandey’s horizons expanded along with his ambitions. Nothing surprised him. In the late 1980s Gandey’s Circus sought new audiences in places as diverse as Iceland and Madeira. Inevitable setbacks occurred. Once, one of his performers (an Indian acrobat whose dressing room was made of hay bales) approached him angrily: “Mr. Gandey, your elephant has eaten my dressing room!”
By the late 1980s the mood had turned against the animals in circuses. Gandey knew things had to change. Inspired by seeing Chinese acrobats at the Monte Carlo International Circus Festival and amazed by the quality and diversity of the performers, he organized a talent scouting trip to China.
Within a year he had struck a deal with the Chinese government and introduced British audiences to the Chinese State Circus, “the purest, most enduring and most exciting circus ever seen”. Created, produced and directed by Phillip and Carol, it revolutionized the UK circus and proved that an all-human version could deliver edge-of-your-seat thrills.
Gandey regularly scoured China for new talent. Once, after watching a Wild West show with rope-twirling, he couldn’t resist “trying it” himself. He went on to give a masterclass, drawing spontaneous applause from the stunned audience. He also won the grand prize with an all-female Chinese troupe at the world’s leading circus festival in Monaco. Recognized for his services to the performing arts in China, he was honored for advancing cultural ties between China and the United Kingdom.
The Chinese State Circus toured England, France, Iceland and the Middle East until 1997. While at the Roundhouse in London, Princess Margaret’s equestrian asked to book tickets. Gandey greeted him to discuss the show. Suddenly a magnificent sound demanded silence. “Everyone, Mr. Gandey’s next production is the Bolshoi Circus on Ice. How wonderful a trip to Grimsby!”
During the 1990s, Gandey created and directed major shows, outdoor festivals and theater productions in the United Kingdom, Beirut, China, Italy, Qatar, Thailand and Bahrain. He took his first circus to Saudi Arabia in 1999; here, the all-male production had to comply with cultural constraints. This has been described as “an indicator of athletic achievement.”
Gandey was constantly searching for new ideas, themes and entertainment. One of his proudest achievements was creating the contemporary production Cirque Surreal in the early 1990s. It featured not only extraordinary circus skills, but also choreography never before seen in a circus context, with prose, poetry, and music by Rick Wakeman. It has since been performed at festivals in Edinburgh, Dublin and Dubai.
Gandey was also ahead of his time in normalizing “kathoey” – or transgender – culture with his 1996 cabaret show The Lady Boys of Bangkok. This show became the best-selling show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and has ceased to be seen as “kathoey”. A novelty for a respected cabaret.
In the early 2000s, Gandey returned to the family’s entertainment roots with the launch of Spirit of the Horse, Europe’s largest traveling equestrian show and a take on Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, which his grandfather was involved with in 1904. In 2003, production was flown to Dubai – the project consisting of a special structure providing a cast of 40 people, 30 horses and a huge indoor arena.
In 2012 Gandey began creating summer circuses for Butlin’s resorts in Skegness, Minehead and Bognor Regis. In 2021, he directed a circus in Doha for the men’s football World Cup and a production for a Christmas festival in Singapore. He was also the artistic director of Circus Starr, a charity that provides entertainment for disabled people.
Phillip Gandey is survived by his wife Carol and three daughters.
Phillip Gandey was born on February 26, 1956, died on December 12, 2023.