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PRINCE Charles is a big fan. So is Sean Connery. Bristol's city fathers - well, bristled.

  ''We are banned there for life,'' Pierrot Bidon says with monumental unconcern.

  ''So ridiculous. We had this couple in a very romantic, sensitive scene and sure the girl was topless, but there was nothing offensive about it.

  ''Bristol still got the show. We rented a field on the edge of the city and had 20,000 people at each performance. A full house.

  ''When we first performed at the Edinburgh Festival, the Prince of Wales came to see us twice. He slipped in very discreetly with a small group of friends - incognito, as we say.''   With his steely grey curls and flamboyant garb, Pierrot Bidon looks like a classic gypsy. Not so the sober Guy Carrara.

  Like chalk and cheese are the co-founders and artistic directors of France's Archaos, scheduled to perform at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium from March 9-13 - the troupe's first appearance in Asia.

  It's almost eight years since this ''circus for the 21st century'' made its debut, creating a sensation that continues unabated. ''Not for the squeamish,'' warns the Arts Festival, but doesn't hesitate to include Archaos in its Discovery Series - ''programmes which we believe will appeal to all tastes''.

  The prudish can relax. Archaos shows have been known to flash the odd full frontal male as well as topless girls, but there will be no nudity in the show coming to Hong Kong. Just eye-popping spectacle complete with motorbikes and chainsaws.

  ''Oh yes, real ones,'' nods Bidon. ''What interests us is using violence to turn around peoples' emotions. In fact it becomes very funny in our shows. ''   The son of a circus clown and tightrope artist - ''no gypsy blood, though he was a gypsy of life'' - he met his partner in theatrical anarchy at a pizza-eating competition.

  ''Guy and I managed to eat exactly the same amount - 12 pizzas in 30 minutes. I hate pizza now, but that's how we became friends.''   To their astonishment, they discovered they were born on the same day: January 1, 1954. Also that they were almost equally fed up - Bidon with training horses for the circus and Carrara, the actor, with conventional theatre. Both were itching for a freshchallenge. It was Bidon who led the way.

  ''I wanted to change the circus, create something which would be an art with real stories, real feeling, not just a performance.''   On January 10, 1986, Archaos exploded into life. For 90 minutes the audience sat riveted. Then came the reaction. ''They stood up and clapped and cheered for half-an-hour,'' Bidon recalls with deep satisfaction.

  Since then, Archaos has become a top international favourite, occasionally picking up talent along the way.

  ''We have an Australian girl called Suzy Longbottom who joined us after we performed at the Adelaide Arts Festival.

  ''She's one of eight women artists coming to Hong Kong - there will be 28 people altogether - and like most in Archaos, her background is not the circus.

  ''Many have done street theatre which is good training. When you try and perform in the street, you disturb people in the beginning and must work hard to hold their interest - even harder to get their money.''   It's a young, intensely energetic company with the majority of the performers in their 20s. The founders have long retired from the action. These days they have their hands full devising new shows, arranging tours and capturing audiences even in places where Archaos hasn't yet appeared.

  ''We haven't been to Eastern Europe, though we have tried to tour Russia,'' says Pierrot Bidon. ''The trouble is that about every six months the political and cultural officials change, so then we have to start again.

  ''Still, the Russians know us through our videos. We shoot every show we do and sell to television stations - except in places like Russia. In the East you don't sell, you give.''   Western Europe gets the best. Last year, Archaos broke all records with a huge show featuring 150 artists who performed under a big top and the company is currently doing its first national tour.

  Hong Kong will get Archaos' latest extravaganza. ''We are very happy with it,'' says Bidon. ''Part of the concept is a new kind of disc jockey and the music has the same kind of construction you find in a film. The sound comes from all around the arena, so that you feel surrounded by it.''   Much of it is performed live and the immediacy is enhanced by the naturalness of the performers.

  ''There are no special costumes in our shows. Everyone makes their own, because we are not creating fiction, but telling stories about life as it now. The audience has no trouble working out the characters. Each is completely distinctive.

  ''From the moment you enter the world of Archaos, you travel non-stop, falling in love with some of the characters, hating others. It's like a dream. You forget where you are.''   After the French, the British are Archaos' most ardent admirers - ''our shows are always sold out in the UK'' - and the troupe has become almost a fixture at the Edinburgh Festival.

  China is the next target, says Bidon. ''We have just visited the Sun Yat Sen Hall in Guangzhou and fell in love with it. What a fantastic theatre - 4,000 seats and such a good feeling about it. If we can get a sponsor, that's where we would like to go.''   With its thrills, spills and wicked antics, Archaos would probably go down a treat on the mainland. But a circus without animals? Actually, there is one.

  ''A parrot,'' grins Pierrot Bidon. ''It has an unpronouncable Indian name and belongs to an aerialist and acrobat who always performs with it.

  ''We have made an application to bring it to Hong Kong, but so far, no reply.''         In the first of a series of Arts Festival previews, Zelda Cawthorne meets the ringmasters of the anarchic circus Archaos as they get ready for Hong Kong   Jon Hargest Two heads . . . the upside down world of Archaos; Pierrot Bidon, left, and Guy Carrara, coming to Hong Kong in March 



Anarchy in the ring