A CIRCUS theatre production with a poignant backstory is on its way to to Bangor.

In 2013, producer Ali Williams, formally artistic director of nofitstate Wales, spent a year working as the creative director with Circus Kathmandu.

This was a contemporary circus group made up of 13 young men and women who were all child trafficking survivors.

Traffickers had taken them to traditional Indian circuses, with the promise of stardom and opportunity.

Instead the children had entered a life of slavery, exploitation and abuse in circuses that became their prisons.

Now two of the group, Renu Ghalan and Aman Tamang, have joined Vietnamese artist Loan Tp Hoang in recounting their tales of lost childhoods in As a Tiger in the Jungle. The tiger is a metaphor for the traffickers.

The production is partnership between Williams and Norway’s Cirkus Xanti and and is a fusion of Asian and European performance, circus and music, set to an original score by Per Zanussi. It is on tour throughout the UK will be performed at Theatr Bryn Terfel, Pontio, Bangor on Sunday, October 8 at 2pm.

Williams said: “We are pleased to have created a meaningful and engaging performance based on true stories from the performers’ lives.

“I was inspired by the young artists from Circus Kathmandu and am delighted to be able to employ Aman and Renu in a professional capacity and utilise the skills they learnt in captivity in a positive and empowering way.

“This gives the performance an authenticity rarely seen on stage today.”

Tickets cost £10 (£8 concessions) and are available by telephoning the box office on 01248 382828. Age guidance is 12+.