A buzz of anticipation electrified the camp; the performers and crew of the NoFit State Circus company scurried from various tents, vans and cabins to assemble outside the back door of the big top.
Like excited children on their way to a birthday party, they danced in a crocodile line, up shallow wooden steps into damp woodland, mysterious whispers of "it's Howie's reveal, Howie's coming out" floating on the breeze.
Off a twisty mud path through the trees, high above the Eden Project's space-age biomes, the ramshackle roof of a tumbledown stone shed emerged from dense undergrowth; the ensemble squeezed tightly and silently inside.
And suddenly there he was, amid the cobwebs, the plant roots and peeling lime plaster, clad in fine vibrant blue velvet frock coat, a fat, antique, leatherbound volume under his arm, and his face illuminated by the flames filling a big silver bowl perched on a log.
Howie Morley – high-wire acrobat, unicyclist, hula hooper, harness expert and fire-eater – stepped out in character for the very first time as he will appear in the company's new production, Bianco, Time For Beauty – this year's summer residency at Eden which begins next weekend.
Gazing to the horizon, gauging the direction of the wind with upheld finger, leafing through the book's pages and muttering "What, what" under his breath, this persona from another time, another place was a million miles away from everyday Howie in hoodie and jeans, scooting effortlessly up a scaffolding tower in the big top a short while earlier.
A joyful ripple of claps and cheers accompanied his retreat; another piece of the jigsaw was in place.
Each member of the 16-strong cast – top-class circus performers brought together from as far afield as Canada and Australia – will enjoy a similar moment of discovery as rehearsals progress.
It's an environment that showcases extraordinary physical skill and daring – flying trapeze, aerial acrobatics, pole, rope and bungee work, hand balancing, juggling. But it's theatrical personality, theme and intriguing storyline which set the Cardiff-based NoFit State apart from traditional circus.
"I love it when it's the first time they appear as characters in costume. I like to give a sense that they don't only exist in the confines of the show, that they have a bigger life," says passionate Italian director Firenza Guidi.
She takes a winding route full of surprises to achieve the theatrical acrobatic spectacular that the public will eventually witness. Not only does this slow-burn keep everyone guessing and on their toes, it also lets the story develop organically into an innovative and exhilarating show that everyone feels embraced by.
The narrative is based on The Elephant's Journey – the poignant last book by the late Nobel-Prize winning Portuguese author Jose Saramago. A mixture of fable, fantasy and fact, it uses the tale of an elephant transported across plains, sea and snowy mountains in the 16th century as a wedding gift from the Portuguese king to the Hapsburg archduke, Maximilian, as a vehicle to explore human foibles and failings through their attitude to the animal, in essence exploring the journey of life itself.
Firenza employs it as a gentle guiding spirit rather than rigid script, and the elephant has yet to take form – it might be a puppet, or even more enigmatic as a metaphorical entity.
"Saramago wrote the book when he knew he was dying," she says. "There is something in it that I would like to convey in this show and that is why I have also called it Time For Beauty.
"The look of the show is quite flamboyant and rich, but in Howie's character there is a humility in him. I can look at him and think he has been scarred by something. For me beauty is not to do with aesthetics, it comes from the inside.
"There is something in each of the performer's personalities that probably they don't even know and bringing that out is, in a way, the most exciting part of my job," she adds.
"Of course, I love all the machinery and the sets, but at the end of the day I think if the power cuts out, or the costumes fall off, and I have a cast of real people – rather than cardboard cutouts – who really communicate something, then we have a show.
"I like the dirtiness of the human condition – I don't like clean," she concludes.
While Firenza's vision drives the artistic process, elsewhere the practical, design and musical elements of getting the show on the road gradually slot into place in the capable hands of company founder Tom Rack and his production team.
There are currently 50 adults, including a camp cook, plus eight children – the youngest just a few weeks old – in residence in the circus camp at Eden.
"It can be a bit like herding cats, at times," he muses.
When the company staged the sell-out Labyrinth, it combined a promenade through the grounds with an indoor finale. This time the action will be focused wholly indoors, centred around four tower structures with wheels, which adapt to become different landscapes and have been built in the workshop on site. The diverse original music that will drive the show is being composed in a Portakabin by musical director Gareth Jones and his band, who readily offer visitors an a cappella song or blasts of trumpet and piano.
Pulling it all together is a last minute effort that always comes together somehow. The quote at the beginning of The Elephant's Journey says it all: "In the end, we always arrive at the place where we are expected."