“You shouldn’t be doing what your doing on that Ladder” deputed in February 2020 and now returns to tackle the instability of mental health in 2022.  Using three different sized ladders, a solo clown performer, Peter Nicholls, strings together success and failure in his pursuit to reach greater heights of well being and ladder steps.  Hilarity and terror ensue as the ladders humiliate, confuse, crush and even lick our troubled clown.  Filled with spectacle, laughs, tears and fears, Peter attempts to perform the greatest ladder trick ever seen but must first accomplish a more impossible feat: finding the desire to get out of bed in the morning.

Appropriate for all ages

This show is presented as part of Cannonball Festival, Philly’s artist-centered performance hub, packing in 65+ full length shows and 300 performances in two nearby venues. Discover risk-taking theater, dance, circus, music, and comedy alongside a vibrant garden bar with a free nightly cabaret, pop-up events, workshops, artist talkbacks, and more. September 1–30 at the Maas Building (1320 N 5th St) and Icebox Project Space (1400 N American St). Learn more at cannonballfestival.org.

Content Considerations

Unnerving ladder stunts and insinuated mental illness and contemplation of suicide.

Health & Safety

Proof of vaccination is required to attend this event, and masks must be worn for the duration of the performance. Audience members will be asked to show proof of vaccination before entering the venue. Both digital and physical proof of vaccination are accepted. Please plan accordingly.

Credits

Produced by: Tribe of Fools, Directed by: Charlotte Northeast, Performed by: Peter S. Nicholls,  Sound Design: Kyle Yackoski, Created and Written by: Peter S. Nicholls, Charlotte Northeast and Terry Brennan

About the Artist

With a mix of the circus arts, clowning and physical theater, Tribe of Fools has been delighting Philadelphian audiences since 2003 with recent shows like “Antihero”, “School Play” and “Fly, Eagle, Fly” and won the June and Steve Wolfson Award for an Evolving Theater Company in 2018. Peter Nicholls, a long time collaborator and company member, directed Tribe’s “Zombies with Guns” and the Barrymore nominated new play “Fishtown: A Hipster Noir”. Tribe of Fools continues to create works that entertain, mesmerize, and inspire their audiences to battle the everyday challenges.