Slava’s SnowShow Announces UK Tour with Full Casting Revealed

by Roman Boldyrev

The Olivier Award-winning theatrical spectacle Slava’s SnowShow will return to the UK this autumn with a nationwide tour, bringing its unique blend of clowning, magic and chaos to audiences across seven cities.

Following a celebrated run in London’s West End and stops in Sunderland and Brighton last year, the international phenomenon will open at Cardiff’s New Theatre on 15 October before travelling to Manchester, Nottingham, Richmond, Birmingham, York and Bradford through to 30 November.

The new tour will feature Slava’s son, Vanya Polunin, alongside long-time collaborator Artem Zhimo. They are joined by Aelita and Bradford West from the USA, Francesco Bifano from Italy, Yury Musatov from the Netherlands and UK performer Christopher Lynam. Slava Polunin himself will also make surprise appearances in the role he first created more than 30 years ago.

First seen in the UK at the 1996 Edinburgh Festival, Slava’s SnowShow has played more than 800 performances across the country, captivating over a million spectators. Its mix of poetic clowning and visual theatre has won more than 20 international awards, including an Olivier Award for Best Entertainment.

Speaking about the return, Polunin said:“SnowShow has been travelling the world every day for over 30 years. Clowning is much more than laughter — it’s about seeing life from a poetic perspective, finding joy and emotions in the simple, the absurd, and the unexpected. The UK has always embraced our poetic universe, and I look forward to seeing how new audiences react and welcoming back familiar faces who saw SnowShow many years ago.”

Highlights of the production include surreal set-pieces such as an enormous spider’s web engulfing the audience, heart-breaking farewells on a railway platform, giant balloons filling the auditorium, and the famous finale snowstorm.

Since its debut in Moscow in 1993, the show has toured to more than 225 cities in 40 countries, reaching an estimated 14 million people worldwide.

Tickets for the UK tour are now on sale at uktour.slavasnowshow.com.