1 Wise Fool New Mexico
2778-D Agua Fria St.
505-992-2588
Wise Fool New Mexico is more than just Hieronymus Bosch-like birdmen on stilts, personable puppets and swaths of brightly colored fabrics. “Circus is an inherently revolutionary art form,” according to Katy Medley, managing director. This means all the stories told through tumbling, trapezes, stilts and puppets—which are “a great way to talk about social issues in a non-threatening way,” Medley says—have larger themes. Sometimes these themes are expressed overtly with shows about issues such as domestic violence. Sometimes the messages are conveyed intrinsically, because people naturally tell stories that matter to them. Wise Fool New Mexico believes passionately that circus “supports an inherently just society” by enabling all kinds of storytellers, in all sorts of forms, in both workshops and year-round professional performances. It is this openness to the community, along with astounding visuals, that makes Wise Fool so clever and, yet, also so entertaining. (Caroline K Gorman)

2 Santa Fe Playhouse, 142 E. De Vargas St., 505-988-4262

3 Santa Fe Performing Arts, 1050 Old Pecos Trail, 505-982-7992