Welcome to The Secret Circus! When feelings have been outlawed, a gregarious rock-n-roll ringleader and their circus friends establish an underground Big Top, a place for freedom and self-expression that’s welcome to all identities—person, animal, or puppet.

Big feelings are safe under The Mudlark's Big Top, where tight rope walkers, jugglers, and dancing frogs channel their emotions into art, away from the clutches of the “feelings police.”

This family and LGBTQ-friendly show features live music, with both human and puppet circus acts. Original Book, Music, and Lyrics by Chanel Samson and Holly Anne Mitchell, featuring The Mudlark’s legendary puppets. From the show’s creators: “This is the musical we needed as kids.” For adults too, The Secret Circus reminds the inner child what makes you strange is what makes you shine; find the tribe where you belong, and if you can’t find one, make one. 

Featuring:

Chanel Samson & Paul Baird on Accordion & Piano

Andy Circus on Hoops and Juggling

The Mudlark Puppets

Qween Quan

And more to be announced!

November 28th & 29th at 7pm

45 Minute Runtime

$20 Adults $10 Kids

Presale tickets available today.

Water Always Wanders: A Ritual of Storytelling 
12/6/24 & 12/7/24
DOORS 6:30pm CST
Mudlark Public Theater

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“Water Always Wonders” is an embodiment of remembered futures, a mournful celebration of failed prayers, a resurrection of forgotten dreams. This is a ritual of Hope in the tradition of Romani storytelling, and in honor of the poetic legacy of Papusza. Facilitated by Tsarina Hellfire, Bimbo Yaga, Moonbear & Milly Raccoon, with special guest LadyBabyMiss. Join us for an evening of object theater, shadow puppetry & music as we join our voices in prayer with our community and ancestors. With multimedia installations from Jezmina Von Thiele, Kiki Robinson & Baby Reckless. As we approach the Winter Solstice, we offer this performance as a blessing & a prayer for safe travels in our descent into the chaos and dreaming of midnight. The title of this show is taken from the poem, Water that Always Wanders by Polska Romani poet Papusza (BronisÅ‚awa Wajs; 1909-1987.)

We Wiggle Dolls is a (mostly) New York-based puppetry collective born out of an ongoing puppet slam (a showcase of short form puppet works) that has quickly expanded into different performance formats and publishing. As we continue to expand our  scope and reach, our mission remains the same -- to bring the full spectrum of modern puppet works to new audiences, and to grow a robust community of puppet performers in tandem with appreciators. 

New York has been a fantastic environment to expand the world of live puppetry. A year into this work, however, the city feels too small and metropolitan compared to the entirety of the American east coast and midwest! The time has come to answer the call of the open road, to squeeze people, puppets and provisions into a van and embark on a DIY puppet show tour!

Central Members of the We Wiggle Dolls crew have joined forces to bring you a tonally and stylistically diverse evening of modern adult-oriented puppetry! Our ranks run the gamut from avant garde heroes of street theater cut loose alongside cardboard butchers, to venerable traditionalists, and even performers completely new to the form!

Come take a peek at the Brooklyn’s exploding doll wiggling scene!