Jemez Springs is working to become an arts destination in Sandoval County. National traveling theater troupe, Agile Rascal Bike Theatre, is making New Mexico the focus of their 2023 tour, which will include a stop to Jemez Springs on Sunday, Oct. 8 for a free performance at the Village Plaza.
The bicycle-based theatre troupe will perform “Chai Chai,” an all-ages play by writer and artist Anooj Bhandari, that intersects three characters’ lives and explores memory and the repercussions of forgetting.
“We believe that art should be unstuffy, free, and inviting to all people,” said manager of Agile Rascal Bike Theatre, Sam Cordes. “Theater and Bikes share a similar relationship to our society: a history of being both the rich man’s plaything and a means of lower-class, day-to-day survival.”
The 2023 New Mexico Tour begins on Sept. 30 in Peñasco, NM, culminating in Santa Fe on Oct. 13. The troupe will perform “Chai Chai” at the Jemez Springs Plaza at 7 p.m. The event is free and is followed by an after-party at the Jemez Mountain Brewhouse to meet the performers.
Since 2015, the theater troupe has biked over 4,600 miles and performed nearly 20 times across the country. They tour via bicycle, carrying sets, props, instruments and costumes to smaller communities that support the arts.
Agile Rascal Bike Theatre was founded in 2014 by creative director Dara Silverman, who erected the idea to make plays accessible across the country in smaller communities, while inspiring reverence for the natural landscape and fostering connections between artists, activists and cyclists. The troupe is crowdfunded by a number of sponsors.
The troupe is being hosted by Mission Street Arts which exists to further the artistic vision of resident artists in the community. The event is supported by Jemez Springs Public Library in part by the NM Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, and by the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support provided by Friends of the Jemez Springs Public Library.
For more information about the 2023 New Mexico tour or Agile Rascal Bike Theatre visit https://www.agilerascaltheatre.com/. For information about Mission Street Arts or how to become an artist-in-residence, visit https://missionstreetarts.com/