Bread and Puppet has been hauling giant puppets, brass horns and fresh-baked rye to protest stages for decades, and The Upside Down World Circus is its answer to the current moment: short, rowdy acts with stilt walkers, paper-mâché beasts and cardboard 'Cheap Art'. It's political theater with a folk-carnival heart, free by donation and staged outdoors beside a reconstructed 1699 farmhouse. If you only know B&P from Vermont road trips, see it here without leaving Brooklyn.
What to expect
Gather on the lawn by the Old Stone House for roughly an hour of quick-fire circus acts — flags, garbage men and washer women, animal puppets of every size and a live band. Afterward the company hands out its famous vegan sourdough rye with garlic aioli, and a table sells posters, pamphlets, postcards and banners from the Bread & Puppet Press.
Good to know
- Two performances are scheduled, one in the afternoon and one in the evening, so pick whichever fits.
- Admission is by donation and the company says no one is turned away for lack of funds; RSVP through the listing's registration link.
- The show tackles heavy political themes; the company's own rule of thumb is that kids who can read a newspaper will be fine.
- If it rains the show moves to New Beginnings Charter School at 82 Lewis Avenue in Bed-Stuy.
- The F and G to 4th Avenue–9th Street or the R to Union Street put you a few blocks away.
- Bring cash for Cheap Art prints and pamphlets.
Going? Keep it.
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Common questions
How long is the Bread and Puppet show?
About an hour, according to the company.
Is there really free bread?
Yes — after each show the company serves its sourdough rye bread with optional garlic aioli, and it's vegan.
Is the show the same every year?
The structure stays familiar (flags, short acts, animal puppets, a brass band), but the content changes to respond to current events, and some puppets are new while others are decades old.
