It has been 20 years since Slava’s Snowshow made its theatrical debut in Moscow, but the unique event has lost none of its magic.

Created by Russian performance artist Slava Polunin, drawing on the influence of silent performers such as Charlie Chaplin and Marcel Marceau, it fuses traditional and contemporary clowning arts with visual spectacle.

Audiences are transported to a joyous dream-like place where a bed becomes a boat in a storm-tossed sea, a woman is wrapped in cellophane and becomes flowers in a vase, a child walks in amazement inside a bubble, Slava boards a train and then becomes the train, his chimney-pot hat billowing smoke and a web of unspun cotton envelops the audience.

The stunning finale sees a letter turn into snowflakes and the flakes turn into a snowstorm which whirls around the auditorium, leaving the audience ankle-deep in snow.

During the past two decades Slava’s Snowshow has been performed in more than 80 cities across the globe and received a clutch of honours including London’s Olivier Award for Best Entertainment and New York’s Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience.

Discover the magic for yourself at Canterbury’s Marlowe Theatre from Tuesday, October 8 to Saturday, October 12.

Tickets are priced from £14. Call 01227 787787.

The show is recommended for ages eight and over.