Giant papier-mâché beasts, stilt dancers and a brass band are rolling into the OKC Farmers Public Market the following weekend as Bread & Puppet Theater brings its touring show, The Upside Down World Circus, to Oklahoma City. The performance is set for Saturday, October 10, with a behind-the-scenes workshop the night before for anyone who wants to get closer to the action.
According to KOKH, both events will take place at the OKC Farmers Public Market, located at 311 S. Klein Ave. The circus itself runs from 4 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. on October 10, with early seating opening at 3:15 p.m. Tickets are a $20 donation per person, and organizers say no one will be turned away due to lack of funds. For this performance, admission is by donation, and no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
The Oklahoma City stop is officially listed on the company's Fall 2026 Circus Tour schedule for Friday, October 9, and Saturday, October 10. A local blog covering the visit, bptokc.blogspot.com, frames it as a welcome repeat engagement, noting the troupe is bringing its newest show back to the city by popular demand.
What's Actually in the Show
The Upside Down World Circus is billed as a spectacle blending slapstick, satire and protest, built around stilt dancers, papier-mâché beasts and a brass band. The same source describes it as a raucous, colorful spectacle of protest and celebration, built through puppetry and street theater styles that tackle urgent social and political themes rather than offering straightforward entertainment.
Director Peter Schumann has framed the production's purpose in stark terms, telling supporters, according to BroadwayWorld: “Possibilitarians! We must demonstrate humanity's upside-down situation.” Bread & Puppet Theater presents a production that uses puppetry and street theater to explore social and political themes.
A Workshop the Night Before
For those who want more than a seat in the audience, Bread & Puppet Theater is holding a behind-the-scenes workshop on October 9, running from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the same Farmers Market venue, per KOKH's reporting. The workshop is limited to 30 participants and includes rehearsal time, a chance to perform alongside the company, and lunch on Saturday.
Part of a Sprawling Cross-Country Tour
Oklahoma City is just one stop on a much larger run. BroadwayWorld reports the company plans 40 shows in 35 places across two months on the road this fall, a schedule that has already carried the troupe through Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts and New York before what the company calls its westward plunge into Western New York and Ohio. That same production has shown up on local listings elsewhere on the route: a Vermont Arts Council posting described an August 1 performance of the show as blending giant papier-mâché puppets, towering stilt dancers and live brass music. The touring circus also features puppets, stilt walkers, papier-mâché animals and a brass band. Bread & Puppet's Oklahoma City stop offers local audiences a chance to see a production that blends puppetry and street theater with social and political themes.
