Sophie’s Surprise Party comes to London

Some people love a surprise, and some people love a party. But what if you like surprises and parties? Then you’ll be glad to hear Sophie’s Surprise Party is coming to London, and everyone is invited.

Part circus spectacle, part comedy mayhem, and all-out ’90s nostalgia, Sophie’s Surprise Party is the ultimate feel good, festive night out in the heart of London. Expect breathtaking acrobatics, outrageous surprises, and a soundtrack that takes you straight back to the house parties that you never wanted to end.

Featuring world-class performers from Cirque du Soleil, La Clique and The 7 Fingers and fresh from its sell-out run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, this isn’t just a house party, it’s award-winning circus at its very finest.  

And here’s the twist: each night, one lucky guest is chosen to become Sophie. So, grab your Walkman, slip on your halter top, dust off those scrunchies, and act like it’s your party… because tonight, it just might be….

The Christmas party everyone will be talking about, this remarkable event is taking up residence at Underbelly Boulevard in Soho on Tues 11 Nov – Sat 10 Jan. They’re also running a special selection of performances called Sophie’s Lates, which feature the same show, turned up a notch. This raucous after-hours ride is non-stop, with no rules, and absolutely no chance of leaving early.  

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As we start planning what outfit to wear, we caught up with two of the show’s stars, Nathan Redwood Price and Katharine Arnold, to find out more about backstage rituals, the 90s and the magic of live performance.

Can you talk us through the development process for Sophie’s Surprise Party? What were your initial inspirations?

Nathan: It started as a conversation in a coffee shop, where we knew we wanted to make something new that was reflective of the talent, skill-set and culture of the UK circus scene as that was so underrepresented on the world stage. It then devolved into two hours of ‘wouldn’t it be funny if….” And it just spiralled from there. The great thing for me about Sophie’s Surprise Party is that it draws from so many different genres and aspects that make up circus as an art form. There are nods (and pastiches!) to really traditional circus in the structure of some of the acts, as well as drawing from more contemporary shows and from that side of the art form. It’s truly mish-mash that is wildly greater than the sum of it’s parts.  

Katharine: We had been talking about making a show for ages which was fun, interactive, included character arcs and comedy and was more than just a line up cabaret show…and then we all loved the idea of referencing late 90s/early 2000s pop culture and parodying movie tropes from that era. We wanted to elevate the genre - or maybe create our own new one (we hope!) - which encompassed ALL the skills we had to offer and hit all the entertainment buttons.

You’ve gathered some of the most talented performers in the world. Does being among that kind of cohort create a sense of community and mutual encouragement, or is it all tiaras and tantrums backstage?

Nathan: Unfortunately, no tiaras... Maybe we need more tiaras. But we’d probably turn it into a bit where whoever was the most diva-y the previous week had to wear the tiara at work. It’s unfortunately very encouraging and supportive. My favourite little group ritual we have is we do ‘abs club’ every day before the show to get us all together to talk, laugh and struggle with each other.  

Katharine: I’d love to give you some juicy gossip but I’m afraid we are boringly and annoyingly supportive of each other - a lot of us were friends and colleagues already so there’s plenty of fun to be had offstage as well as on.

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The world of cabaret has been given a tough time by Covid and the rise of always online culture, but do you think people are starting to gravitate back towards the physicality of live performance? Or has the scene changed forever?

Nathan: I think the scene has changed forever, and I think Sophie’s Surprise Party is reflective of that change. Audiences are gravitating towards more experiential things. You can watch anything at home on a screen, there’s only so much you can experience at home.  

We’ve always been hesitant to call Sophie’s Surprise Party ‘immersive’ because I think that comes with certain connotations and expectations, but the show is absolutely experiential. You are not immersed in a house party, you’re not watching a show, but you’re given the experience; the elation, the joy the abandon of a house party during the show.

Katharine: That’s a tough one. I don’t think anything will ever match the feeling of live entertainment, and knowing that what you’re watching is a moment between the audience and the performers which can never be replicated, but I think that the general public have become so used to accessing everything online that going out to watch things can feel like effort to them. I would argue that the effort is vitally important and entirely worth it though!

Is there such a thing as being too glamorous?

Nathan: I am the wrong person to ask. I recently made myself stop wearing athletic wear to every meeting. I have since upgraded to jeans, and that was a big step.  

Katharine: Absolutely not. What a ridiculous question ;)

What kind of audience does the show attract?

Nathan: All ages! As much as the show is millenial-y, by nature of all the creative team being of that generation (Katharine just sneaks in) the show is really accessible to everyone. I don’t think joy and awe have an age range, or enjoying those things is tied to a specific demographic.  

Katharine: Hopefully, everyone! We have tried to make it a show which feels accessible to all ages and cultures, and which has comedy and skills which can reach, inspire and thrill everybody.

Does holding down a residency at a single venue enable you to be more inventive and ambitious with a show?

Nathan: It absolutely does. Each audience is different, country to country, venue to venue and even night to night. So these long runs let you really hone in on what your audience respond to, so we’ll change jokes, we’ll adjust timings, we’ll swap out tricks. These kind of long runs really give us the opportunity to find the purest, most distilled version of the show and bottle that lightning every time.  

Katharine: Having a decent length run of the show anywhere means we can have the time to play around with ideas. We are notorious for changing things the whole time- if we have a new idea we are like “Throw it in! YOLO!”. This is probably super annoying for our cast, but luckily they love us…

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What is it about the 90s which made it culturally the greatest decade in human history?

Nathan: Neopets. I refuse to elaborate.  

Katharine: I’m glad you’ve phrased it that way. I mean…the Spice Girls, Britpop, Friends, Tarantino, our misspent youth…it was just such a VIBE.

What advice would you give to anyone wanting to get into circus or cabaret? Is it an easy thing to access and learn?

Nathan: Just YOLO it. Start wild and work your way backwards. Run before you can walk. Jump off stuff. There are no bad ideas. If you can dream it, do it. That’s what I always say.  

Katharine: I wouldn’t say easy - you need grit, a strong pain threshold, dedication and the ability to sustain the ridiculous notion that it’s a good career choice. But there are a lot of great places in the UK to start training and it’s an addictive, fun and extremely fulfilling way to channel your energy into something.  

Sophie’s Surprise Party comes to the Underbelly Boulevard at 6 Walker's Court, London W1F 0BT on Tues 11 Nov 2025 – Sat 10 Jan 2026.

For tickets and more information, go HERE.  

Main image by Michael Aiden

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