It's a Circus in Phoenicia

The circus is coming to town, and the Phoenicia Library is bringing it. On Sunday, April 3rd, the award-winning local favorite Arm of the Sea Theater will perform The Rejuvenary River Circus, a story about the life of a river, on stage at the Phoenicia Elementary School. But with the low-tech transformational magic of visual theater, it’s a circus like you’ve never seen, illuminating the connections between the human world and the earth.

Since 1982, Arm of the Sea has been fusing visual storytelling with live music in contemporary works of mask and puppet theater. Their large-scale multi-layered productions are designed to delight and inform audiences of all ages. The circus is an allegory, featuring gorgeous masks, puppet characters, a unique hand-made set, and live original music. The story follows Malakai, a messenger and water carrier who travels between Mountain Peaks and The Deep Blue Sea. Along his journeys, Malakai encounters a host of creatures including a lyrical sea turtle, a fast-talking crow, and beds of filter-feeding oysters. Each animal offers insights into their particular role in a watershed’s ecosystem. When Malakai falls ill, his granddaughter must rise to the challenge and help restore her grandfather, the River, back to health. The hour-long performance is family friendly and open to the public.

The performance will be held at the Phoenicia Elementary School, just a little way down Main Street from the Phoenicia Library. After a fire in 2011 that gutted the building and burned all the books, the Phoenicia Library is back in force with a brand new, green building that’s the first Passive-House designed library in America. And the Library now has its first ever children’s room. Check it out afterschool when they host Art Hour with Francesca on Wednesdays and Lego Club on Fridays, both from 4:30-5:30p for all ages. On the first Friday of every month (next on April 1st) from 5:30-7:30, they host their most popular children’s ongoing program, Magical Card Gaming Night. There’s more for the whole community on their calendar.


Arm of the Sea’s The Rejuvenary River Circus presented by the Phoenicia Library at the Phoenicia Elementary School located on School Lane & Route 214, about a half mile north of Main Street in Phoenicia: Sunday, April 3rd, 2p; 1 hour; all ages; free! For more information, see phoenicialibrary.org.

Mark your calendar for Arm of the Sea’s annual outdoor spectacle, The Esopus Creek Puppet Suite, which will happen August 19th, 20th, & 21st at Tina Chorvas Park in Saugerties.