Episode 4 (final episode)
After successfully qualifying to perform at the St. Patrick’s Festival, the young circus troupe do exactly what the trainers feared – they lose momentum and motivation. Paul, 18, from O’Devaney Gardens comes back from a week off sick to find the group disintegrating. After only 11 weeks training the teens wave goodbye to Belfast as they head back to their home turf for an intensive week of rehearsals in Dublin. The girls, who have been non committal and unmotivated, need to start working hard – and quickly. Francesca, 17 from Inchicore, shows real performance skills on the trapeze but is still distracted by personal circumstances. The last tower block of St Michaels estate, the flats where she lived with her mother before she passed away, is being torn down.
With a few days to go to the big performance we start to hear how this whole process has impacted on the young people’s lives – or if it has had any impact. And John Lonergan and the Circus Trainers still have to get all eight teenagers over the line and onto the stage for their big public show – Circus Runaways – at the St Patrick’s Festival Supervalu Big Day Out.