Circus & the Bard at Shakespeare & Company
Best Fun of the Season
By: Charles Giuliano - Aug 22, 2025
Circus & the Bard
Shakespeare & Company
Tina Packer Playhouse
Co-created by Allyn Burrows, Robin Eldridge & Pedro Reis
Director Allyn Burrows
Lighting, Luke Willson; Sound, Marcus Kearns
Performers: Chris Allison (clown, MC), Spencer Androli (juggler),
Aiden Chalfonte (actor), Lydia Isabel Duff (actor), Justin Durham (handbalancer), Zoe Isadora (aerial artist), Marcus Kearns (actor), JoJo McDonald (actor), Shena Tschofen (cyr wheel), Karoly Zeman & Ana Zeman (quick change artists)
August 14 to 31
Running time, one hour
“Shakespeare is about soaring, labyrinthine emotion and thought, and so it is, in some ways, an internally visceral circus,” artistic director Allyn Burrows said. “There are so many ways in which the characters go through these twists and turns in a way that’s very much like circus — and so, circus becomes … the manifestation of what is happening internally for Shakespeare characters.”
There is the commitment and challenge to present Shakespeare to an often reluctant audience. The collaborative production Circus & the Bard is an off the hook experiment combining actors reciting selected texts interacting with an array of renowned circus performers. To bring in new audiences there are reduced prices, general admission seating, and even some 20 free tickets for each performance. To get the word out every effort is being made to stack the house particularly with thrilled toddlers who were out in droves. This is truly a family event and fun for kids of all ages.
It’s difficult to gauge the impact of the language of the Bard. Indeed much of the spoken word flew over my head but the circus elements had the kids bounding up from their seats and the rafters shaking. It may have been, at least for me, the most entertaining fun I have enjoyed in a heck of a long time. At a short and sweet hour long run a lot was packed in and the play left us hungry for more. It was perfect timing for all those kids having their first taste of theatre.
Which is the truly significant lasting impact of this bold experiment. The program notes bios of the performers indicate that they individually committed to lives in the theater after exposure as toddlers. The clown, and glue that holds this all together, Chris Allison, “was a ten year old when he took a school trip to the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus that would change his life forever. Leaving the circus wide eyed and in a sugar induced daze Chris decided that he would grow up and become a clown with The Greatest Show on Earth.”
Who among us has not wanted to run off and join the circus?
The production conflates Shakespeare & Company with Spirit of the Circus, a Sarasota-based circus company. The matinee performances provide an outing for a “tri-generational family,” said Pedro Reis, co-director of the production and founder of the Circus Arts Conservatory.
The production came about after Burrows visited the circus company, collaborating with co-director Robin Eldridge to bring a Shakespeare & Company performance to Florida. There, Eldridge introduced Burrows to Reis, and the partnership began. With brilliant invention and synergy it conflated to the current production. Based on the success of this iteration it is likely to become a much anticipated annual event.
The premise is simple. Troupes of Elizabethan actors are traveling about plying their trade. They recite familiar soliloquies and even engage in a bit of flashy sword play. Their wandering takes them to a camped traveling company of circus performers. From there they interact as each artist has a moment in the spotlight.
What threads through this is the running commentary of the delightfully engaging clown Chris Allison. He is rather slithery and fay with the quirky mannerism that reminded me of the zany Jerry Lewis. We first encounter him delving into a thick tome of Shakespeare. The red bulb on his nose signified his status as a clown but the costume of bright colored jacket and cummerbund seemed more a mockery of formal attire than true clown garb.
Initially, he was all talk while glibly introducing the performers. Then he demonstrated remarkable skill with an “Elizabethan Yo Yo.” This is an hour glass device manipulated with two sticks and a long string. He deftly demonstrated all the classic yo yo moves with an extra trick. He could flip the device off the string then deftly bag it again. The kids were enthralled.
Each of the circus performers proved to be spectacular. The quick change act of Karoly Zeman & Ana Zeman was simply astonishing. She stepped into a silken tube and in a minute when it was dropped she had a different outfit then another and another and another.
Spencer Androli is a three time world champion juggler. He kept all manner of things in the air from an impossible number of balls, to rings, and bowling pins. All while balancing one of them on his nose.
Round and round went Shena Tschofen in a cyr wheel. Aerialist Zoe Isadora is a third generation circus performer. She twisted into bright silk streamers performing splits and contortions to the delight and amazement of the audience. Topping it off Justin Durham displayed a remarkable physique performing handstands.
Allison has a wonderful way of involving the young audience. He asked for help while attempting to keep eight plates spinning at once. Each was numbered. As their spins wound down they neared falling off their pins. He instructed the audience to shout out the number of threatened plates. The theater reverberated as he raced to rescue each threatened plate. I have never seen an audience more delightfully united. For once it was a performance that truly deserved a standing O.
Don’t miss this performance for the best fun of the summer.