Wise Fool: Where whimsy, activism meet - published in the New Mexican
Wise Fool: Where whimsy, activism meet
Circus show spreads message of justice through acrobatics, clowning
4/11/2009
Children of all ages packed the Wise Fool studio off Agua Fría Street on Saturday afternoon to experience the circus and puppetry troupe's latest whimsical creation.
Coup de Circ: A Revolution in One Ring
, the hour-and-10-minute show, told the story of a greedy circus ringleader who bullies and abuses her performers until a spectacular acrobat captures her attention. The ringleader, who thinks only of money, must have the acrobat named Etoile in her show and says she'll do anything to get her.
In the end, the performers band together and turn the ringleader into a clown.
The show — replete with acrobatics, colorful puppets on stilts and outrageous physical theatrics — is based on the troupe's first circus performance, created in 1997. That show toured villages in Chiapas, Mexico, in support of the Zapatista resistance movement, said Amy Christian, Wise Fool's artistic director.
The new show is a slimmed-down version that the five Wise Fool cast members will again take to the road, this time on a tour of Canadian arts and children's festivals, Christian said.
"It's got a real balance of clowning-style physical theater ... (and) a real story line," Christian said.
Nicoya Dant, 7, one of the audience members Saturday, said her favorite part of the show occurred when the character Etoile performs amazing feats of acrobatics on two strands of material hanging from the ceiling. Dant also takes part in after-school classes at Wise Fool, which teach kids how to be clowns, walk on stilts and swing on a trapeze.
"It's really fun," Dant said.
Carrie McConaughy, her mother, said she enjoys the program's particular paradigm of empowering "independent women."
"I think Wise Fool is great," she said. "It's so inspiring."
Wise Fool began as a political theater company in San Francisco before moving to Santa Fe in the late 1990s, Christian said.
"Everything we do is rooted in social justice," she said. "The circus and puppets create whimsy and space for people to speak their minds. (But) we try not to be like, 'This is right and this wrong.' We don't hit you over the head."
For those who missed this weekend's performances,
Coup de Circ
will be presented next weekend as well. Showtimes are 6:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday at the Wise Fool studio, 2778 Agua Fría St. For more information, call 992-2588.
Contact Jason Auslander at 986-3076 or :jauslander@sfnewmexican.com.