Victoria Prin, the wife of the man who already manages the fast food brand Laurent Burger and the ice cream parlor Vittoria Gelati & Dolci, is no stranger to the choice of theme. The young woman, from a famous circus family, was keen to introduce people to her world. For her, it’s a dream come true. “I’ve wanted to start my own entertainment business for a very long time and have a cabaret. We decided to call this place Circus in homage to mine and my ancestors,” she explains.
Maxime Laurent transformed the first room and the reception hall of the cinema into a bar, restaurant and games room. S. D. / SO
The entrepreneur bought ABC in November 2025. “We had been working on this project for three years. It is a place steeped in history. With the old Lido, which housed two other cinemas where the Citya real estate agency is currently located, they formed the cinema offer in Royan before the multiplex opened near the station. Our objective was to preserve this artistic soul turned towards entertainment. We are on the seafront and we had to think of a lively place that welcomes the public,” he emphasizes. Transforming part of this former temple dedicated to cinema into a restaurant and games room constituted a real challenge. “We worked with an architect and we also put our two cents into it. We never run out of ideas.”
The games room is managed by Rémi Peyraube. S. D. / SO
A race against time
The project lasted a month. A race against time. “We wanted to open for the season with the broadcast of the Football World Cup on a giant screen in June. There was no need to hang around,” confides Maxime Laurent, who speaks of a multifunctional space with, from the entrance, a bar overlooked by a huge chandelier which opens onto the restaurant room and its open kitchen, itself dominated by a mezzanine, upstairs, with a view of the Grande Conche beach and the sea on one side, and private space with an original table installed inside a lion cage on the other. “There was the old projection room here,” informs the boss of the Circus. The catering part is directly connected to the games room managed by Rémi Peyraube, the cousin of Maxime Laurent who already owns a business of this type in Ronce-les-Bains with the Palais du Jeu. In total, 15 employees were hired to run this new address.
There will be contemporary circus acts and burlesque stripping, among others
The idea is to respond to as many requests as possible. “It will be open every day and all year from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. We want it to last twelve months out of twelve and not just three or four months. With Laurent Burger, we realized that it was possible,” insists the restaurateur. This opening also coincides with the end of the work on the seafront. “What has been done is magnificent. It’s a huge added value for the City and for us.”
Guests will be able to eat inside a lion cage. S. D. / SO
Even the mirror in the toilets is reminiscent of the world of entertainment. S. D. / SO
The cabaret in a second phase
On the walls, family photos from the circus or old posters remind us that we are here in the world of entertainment. No detail has been left to chance. Even the mirror hung in the toilets which reminds us of those present in the dressing rooms of music hall artists or of this beer pump in the shape of a circus half-hoop.
