The Lion Tamer

“Times have moved on.  Certain things no longer have a place with us.”

“There’s no room for animals in our modern world, is that it?”

“Not animals like lions”

So what happens to eight unwanted circus lions once their act is cancelled?  Emmanuel Gunter, or ‘Manny’ the lion tamer is determined to save his lions at all costs and as the stakes grow higher, his methods become increasingly unorthodox.

Manny’s troubled assistant, José the anarchic Spaniard, is in love with Shelley, the teenage tightrope walker.  Between him and his young love, stands the threatening figure of Shelley’s psychotic father, the circus strongman, and her weird alcoholic Great Aunt Anna, a ‘painted pensioner’ who dresses like a child.  Both father and daughter are hiding a terrifying secret.

Manny is shocked when he discovers that John Carter, his ex-lover, is the British politician spearheading the anti-animal acts campaign.  José’s estranged partner, Rosanna, is threatening to block his access to his beloved young daughter.  The Chinese acrobats are using the circus as a cover for a major drug smuggling operation and just when he is needed most, Manny becomes seriously ill.

As the tension mounts and Manny prepares to take a final stand, José formulates a desperate plan to try and save both his teenage lover and Manny’s lions.  The resourceful John Carter is backing his idea, but even so, José’s plan is so outrageous that even he doesn’t actually believe it can possibly succeed.

Is there a chance though, however slim, that the lions can be saved?  Will the lion tamer and his lovers win out in the end?

Throughout this immersive story the presence of the lions and their plight provides a redemptive force, drawing each of the characters away from their destructive histories.