A collaboration with Spirit of the Circus pairs Shakespeare with circus performers in a brand-new production
LENOX, Mass. – Shakespeare & Company and Spirit of the Circus present Circus & The Bard, co-created by Allyn Burrows, Robin Eldridge, and Pedro Reis.
A mash-up of professional circus acts and Shakespeare’s verse staged August 21 through 31 at the Tina Packer Playhouse, Circus & The Bard features internationally reputed aerialists, jugglers, quick-change artists, and more, performing alongside actors rendering relative Shakespeare moments.
Reis, co-founder of Circus Sarasota and the Circus Arts Conservatory (CAC) and Eldridge, a producer, director, and content creator, founded Spirit of the Circus in 2024 in part to foster collaborations like Circus & The Bard.
Eldridge said partnerships like this one help to illuminate circus arts from different angles through reimagined original work.
“If the circus physicalizes human feats of balance, strength, flexibility, etc., and Shakespeare reveals human emotion and behavior, then blending them lets both release their power, in tandem,” she said.
Reis added that this collaboration is a perfect opportunity for entire families to share in an exciting production.
“Collaboration is a strong word in my vocabulary,” he said, “and this show is for children of all ages. Truly, grandchildren, parents, and grandparents will enjoy it alike.”
Finally, Burrows – Shakespeare & Company’s Artistic Director – said he, Eldridge, and Reis weren’t sure what form the production would ultimately take, but it began to grow organically once the circus acts and Shakespeare’s verse began to coalesce.
“We didn’t quite know where this was going at the beginning of the process,” he said, “although we were very curious about what might come of the intersection of these apparently unrelated mediums, and to discover what alchemy might reveal itself when these two worlds collide exquisitely.”
Thanks to the generosity of the Harvey and Virginia Kimmel Family Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation, Shakespeare & Company is offering free tickets to Circus & The Bard for youth and families with limited access to the arts. Up to 25 free tickets to this spectacle of circus acts and Shakespeare will be available for any show, August 21 – 31.
Use the code FREECIRCUS at checkout at shakespeare.org, or mention it when calling the Box Office at 413.637.3353. This show is presented in collaboration with Spirit of the Circus.
Traditional tickets range from $22 to $38; patrons 22 and under may take advantage of $22 tickets. $5 Card to Culture tickets for EBT, WIC, and ConnectorCare participants are available for in-person purchase or by calling the Box Office. For more information, visit shakespeare.org, or call the Box Office at 413.637.3353.
About Shakespeare & Company
Shakespeare & Company was founded in 1978 by Tina Packer. Located in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, the Company offers performance, education, and actor-training opportunities year-round, and attracts more than 40,000 patrons annually with a core of more than 150 artists.-30-
Co-creators & Cast Bios
Allyn Burrows
(Co-creator, Director)
S&Co: Director: The Tempest (2017), As You Like It (2018), Twelfth Night (2019) A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2023), Shake It Up (2024 and 2025). Shakespeare & Company performances: Flight of the Monarch, Henry VI, Part 2, A Walk in the Woods, King Lear, God of Carnage, Or, King John, Much Ado About Nothing, Henry V, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Henry IV, Part 1, among others. As Artistic Director of Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Allyn directed and acted in numerous productions. Other Boston area performances include Can You Forgive Her (Huntington Theatre), Breaking the Code (Underground Railway Theatre), Shipwrecked (The Lyric Stage), The Seafarer and The Homecoming (Merrimack Repertory Theater), Five by Tenn (Speakeasy Stage). Elliot Norton Award for The Homecoming, King Lear, Five by Tenn; IRNE Award for Breaking the Code. Off-Broadway: Bug, Killer Joe, Louis Slotin Sonata, Closetland. Regionally: Actors’ Theatre of Louisville, American Conservatory Theatre, Long Wharf, Denver Center, Walnut St. Television: The Broad Squad, Law and Order, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Against the Law. Films include The Company Men, Julie & Julia, Manchester by the Sea, Don’t Look Up, and the upcoming Tony.
Robin Eldridge
(Co-creator, Director)
Raised on the stage in both theater and dance, including as a student at Shakespeare & Company, Robin has never forgotten the visceral power of live collaborations. Certainly for the artists involved and hopefully for the audience. Since those early years studying and performing onstage, Robin has moved, by way of educational psychology, into developing creative content, whether directing an 8-part audio series about trauma and resilience with social psychologist Dan Ariely, producing a Shakespeare & Company performance weekend in Sarasota, Fla., designing a Berkshire-based evening with regional artistic leaders about the role of performance in our culture, or now co-creating this initiative between Shakespeare & Company and the company she and Pedro Reis have recently formed, Spirit of the Circus.
Pedro Reis
(Co-creator, Director)
Born in Cape Town, South Africa, Pedro Reis began his circus training at the age of 12 at a local YMCA. He developed his skills on the flying trapeze and later helped develop the first circus school in South Africa. In a land divided by color, the school ignored politics, giving students from all walks of life the opportunity to channel their energies in a positive, healthy manner. Pedro then moved on to create The Survivors, one of the most dangerous acts in circus history performing without safety devices making their American debut with Ringling Bros. in 1984. In 1987 Pedro became a solo artist, performing with many renowned circus companies including the Big Apple Circus in New York and The International Circus Festival of Monaco. In 1997, he co-founded Circus Sarasota, a one-ring circus in the European tradition, and a not-for-profit organization now named the Circus Arts Conservatory (CAC). The CAC presents circus arts at the highest level – through performance, education and integrated community arts and service programs. He has received the Sarasota County Arts Council prestigious Arts Leadership Award, and is inducted into the John and Mable Ringling Circus Museum Hall of fame and the Circus Ring of Fame at St. Armand’s Circle. In 2017, the CAC partnered with the Smithsonian Institute to produce their Folklife Festival, which that year focused on international circus arts. Pedro led the team, setting up the Big Top on the National Mall, and producing/directing the international Circus talent. He and Robin Eldridge have recently formed Spirit of the Circus, a company that illuminates circus arts from different angles, including original collaborations such as this production with Shakespeare & Company.
Chris Allison
(Performer)
Chris Allison was 10 years old when he took a school field trip to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus that would change his life forever. Leaving the circus wide eyed and in a sugar induced daze, Chris decided then that he would grow up and become a clown with the Greatest Show on Earth®. After graduating from the RBBB Clown College with a major in pie throwing and a minor in pratfalls, Chris spent the next eleven years touring with the circus, the final three years as the Boss Clown. Since leaving the show Chris has toured across the United States as well as internationally including performances in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Europe, Mexico and beyond! If you are saying “Hey that guy looks familiar…” maybe that’s because you have seen him at Disney’s Boardwalk Resort or on Disney Cruise Line, MTV’s Road Rules, MTV’S ODDVILLE, Natalie Merchants music video for her hit song “Kind and Generous”, Oprah, The Today Show, Emeril Live, Comedy Central’s Strangers with Candy, The Late Show with David Letterman and was a quarter-finalist on America’s Got Talent.
Spencer Androli
(Performer)
Spencer Androli has been juggling for 15 years and is a 3x world champion juggler. He has broken multiple world records and was ranked the #1 Juggler of 2023 and #4 in 2024 on the Top 40 Jugglers of the Year Chart. He has performed for circuses and variety shows such as Teatro Zinzanni, Flynn Creek Circus, Circus Evo, Hideaway Circus, Shoestring Circus, and the Moisture Festival in Seattle. He has been featured on ESPN 2 as part of an international sport juggling competition from the World Juggling Federation in Paris, France in 2024 winning 3rd place.
Lydia Isabel Duff
(Actor)
Lydia is a theatre artist based in Western Massachusetts. She was introduced to theatre through Shakespeare & Company’s education programs, and continued on to study in programs at Carnegie Mellon University, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, and the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Bennington College, and then returned to Shakespeare & Company to take the Month-long Intensive. This is her third year with the company, having performed in the staged readings of Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley (2023) and Emma (2024), and stepped in as understudy to perform in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2023) and A Body of Water (2024).
Zoë Isadora
(Performer)
Zoë Isadora is a third generation aerial circus artist. Since her first appearance in the circus ring at 9 months old, Zoë has performed in productions with Cirque Passion, The Flying Wallenda Family Circus, Westchester Circus Arts, AirOtic Soirée, Les Farfadais, and Cirque Dreams. Zoë is also head manager and coach at Moody Street Circus, and travels around the world to share her aerial workshops and technique! Through her unique performance upbringing, Zoë now imbues the spirit of the circus world in her own aerial feats through graceful flows and seamless dancing with any apparatus. Her work is strong, elegant and enchanting.
Marcus Kearns
(Actor / Sound Designer)
For the last decade, Marcus has been in and out of NYC where he was staying busy as a props carpenter for Broadway, production manager for everything from Redbull to Rhianna, & performing whenever he had the chance. He moved back to the Berkshires in 2021 and worked as Director of Production & Operations for Barrington Stage Company until 2024 when he left to be a full time Dad. Marcus is elated to be on stage again at Shakespeare & Company. He’d like to thank his wife Erika for her love (and the lights) and his son Porter for being such an awesome little dude.
Shena Tschofen
(Performer)
Shena is an award-winning circus artist specializing in cyr wheel. A graduate of Montreal’s National Circus School, she has toured internationally with Cirque du Soleil’s LUZIA and Cirque Éloize’s Saloon as well as with variety shows across Europe, performing as both an acrobat and musician (violin, mandolin, vocals). Her distinctive style blends clean technique with creative improvisation, shaped by her background in modern dance. Shena has earned top honors at international circus festivals, including the Grand Award of the Jury at the Newcomershow in Leipzig, the grand prize at Le Monastère’s Cabaret du Jugement Dernier in Montreal, and the GOP Varieté Prize at Basel’s prestigious Youngstage Festival. Outside of her work in performing arts, Shena is also a handknitting pattern designer and textile artist, creating functional pieces from reclaimed materials with a focus on traditional craft and slow fashion.
Ana ‘Anita’ Zeman & Karoly ‘Karchy’ Zeman
(Performers)
Karoly Zeman “Karchy” and Ana Zeman “Anita” both come from circus families. Karchy studied at the Hungarian state circus school, graduating in 1992. When he wound up working at a traveling circus in Ireland, he met Anita, who was at that time working as a flying trapeze artist with her family. After three months, Karchy and Anita were married, and have been together for 30 years, performing both a roller skating act and this quick-change act.
Artem Zhaunenka
(Performer)
ARTSIOM ZHAUNENKA is an experienced handstand performer who graduated from the Moscow State Circus School (GUCEI); an artist of LENINGRAD CENTER; a prize-winner and winner of many awards, prizes; Bronze medalist of the Salieri Circus Award festival, laureate of the International festivals “PARAD ALL” in Latvia, “CIRCO ZABURAI” in Lithuania, “CYRCLAND” in Poland. At the 12th International circus festival “Golden Elephant” in Girona, he won two special prizes from the jury members of Cirque d’Hiver Bouglione, Paris and Cirque National Suisse Knie, Schweizer.