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Geoff Sobelle: Clown Show

  • July 3 - 5, 2026
  • PS21 : Center for Contemporary Performance

    2980 New York 66
    Chatham, New York 12037
Ticket Price $12.50-$110.00 Buy Tickets
Description

A portrait of America as a falling-apart clown show”


When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king. The palace becomes a circus.” -Turkish Proverb


At PS21 for its World Premiere, director, actor, and magician Geoff Sobelle’s Clown Show examines the instability and nonsensical nature of present day America on its 250th birthday. Sobelle, a self-reported enthusiast of the “sublime ridiculous”, invites us to share in his absurd catharsis through physical theatre, innovative design, original music, and comedy. 


This circus is tenaciously crewed by its clowns after their colleagues have long left, though their homemade instruments and crumbling infrastructure signal that the show perhaps mustn’t go on. We watch as the cast of musicians, dancers, and theatre performers struggle to keep it all afloat, spinning classical American circus tropes and aesthetics into a hallucinatory, mind-bending art piece.


After 18 months of development, Sobelle has constructed Clown Show to be a mobile, international touring show, finding its first two homes at PS21 and King’s Theatre in Edinburgh this summer. 


“And after the fall of the carnival, what is left? Maybe the return of the old-growth forest? It might take a little while, but the slime molds and mushrooms might not mind....”

Date & Time

Jul 3 - 5, 2026

Venue Details

PS21 : Center for Contemporary Performance

2980 New York 66
Chatham, New York 12037 PS21 : Center for Contemporary Performance
PS21 : Center for Contemporary Performance

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About PS21

A vibrant center for contemporary performance in the Hudson Valley, PS21 “presents work that challenges and invites” (The New York Times). Our adventurous productions by leading and emerging American and international artists showcase what’s new and thought-provoking in music, contemporary circus, dance, theater—and in entirely new genres. Largely supported by our generous donors, we’re a must-see, must-experience destination for performances that you won’t find anywhere else, at ticket prices that welcome all. 

Photography

PS21 will take photos of this event for use in social media and on our website. The photos sometimes include audiences. Your attendance at this performance indicates you consent to appear in PS21 photography. If you would prefer not to appear in any photos, please let a staff member know, and we will be glad to accommodate your request.


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