Audiences walk out on Christmas show at Brighton Centre

Members of the audience at a Christmas show in Brighton have criticised it as “worst production they have seen in a long time”, with many walking out.

The performance of Wicked Wizard of Oz: A Cirque Spectacular Christmas show at the Brighton Centre, which is running for two days on Tuesday and Wednesday, is promoted on the World’s Greatest Productions website as “combining the magic of cirque with the charm of a classic tale”.

However, David Parker from Crawley, who watched the performance with his partner and daughter told BBC Radio Sussex the show was “so bad it was laughable. One performer did six tumbles and got five wrong”.

World’s Greatest Productions has been approached for comment.

Mr Parker said they left in the first 10 minutes of the second half when his nine-year-old daughter insisted they leave.

The show was advertised as “Panto meets Cirque” on the Brighton Centre website.

“We were expecting it to have Cirque du Soleil levels of performance,” he said.

“It was very awful and amateurish.

“There was a five-minute gap and no one knew what was going on,” Mr Parker said.

Mr Parker, who paid £143 for the show, said they had been looking forward to seeing the performance.

“There was a guy eating a cucumber and spitting it on another performer.

“There was another performer using a cucumber in a very provocative manner,” he said.

“It was just poor.”

Keely Beecroft, from Seaford, watched the show with her partner, having paid £122 for tickets.

She said the show was “awful” and a “misrepresentation” of what was advertised.

Ms Keely said the lighting was not working and one of the acrobats injured themselves.

She added she left during the interval, and then went back to check if any audiences had stayed.

“More than half of the audiences had left,” she said.

Both Mr Parker and Ms Beecroft have told the BBC they would be seeking a refund.

Other viewers have taken their frustrations online.

One person wrote on the Ticketmaster website: “This must be the worst production I’ve seen in a long time.

“As I’m writing this, it is only halfway through and so many people have walked out.”

Another wrote: “Childish. The ‘acrobats’ were very basic. Lots of people left early and we didn’t even make it to half time. We feel conned.”

The show is currently touring with performances scheduled at:

• Connexin Live, Hull, on 19-20 December
• BP Pulse Live, Birmingham, on 21-22 December
• AO Arena, Manchester, on 23 December
• Ovo Hydro, Glasgow, on 27-28 December
• First Direct Bank Arena, Leeds, on 29-30 December
• Gleneagle Arena, Killarney, on 2-4 January