STAGE REVIEW : Fern Street Circus Rings In Audience

They came with painted faces, balloon hats and swords, pink and purple poles flowing with ribbons and feathers.

And that was the audience.

The performers of the Fern Street Circus were also colorfully bedecked. But the eager eyes of the watching children were not on the costumes but on the balls flying in the air, the unicyclist on the slack wire, the tumblers, the clowns, the contortionist and the great, tall monster that frightened the other performers away--momentarily.

It was magical.

It’s not easy to be enchanting on a hot midday in September. And the setting for the second annual Fern Street Circus could not be more modest. The San Diego troupe, assembled locally by artistic director John Highkin, performs for one hour in a single red ring, backed by brightly painted cloth scenery in a temporarily fenced off section of Grape Street Park in Golden Hill.

The audience sits on the grass, children crowding to the front and parents farther back with babies in their laps. There are no fancy lights--just the sun. The ventilation comes from the circus’ position under a handful of eucalyptus trees that fan gently downward what breezes there are.

But the unpretentiousness of this circus is matched by its ticket prices: $4 for adults, $1 for children.

This year, Highkin (who at one point in the show donned stilts under the monster costume) bills the show as “The Ordinary & The Amazing!” He chose a simple theme that captured the children’s imagination immediately.

Two characters, played by Kory Abosada and Jamie Adkins, are circus novices who get pulled into the show by the other performers. Adkins, with his innocent California surf boy look, “develops” over the course of the show into a juggler of impressive proportions--at one point juggling fire while riding a unicycle.

The even younger, sassy looking Abosada plays an audience member who gets dragged into the action as a reluctant volunteer (an idea that most of the younger audience bought into thoroughly). Abosada begins by stumbling through routines and ends up (to the audience’s delight) flipping acrobatically like the pros.

The circus wouldn’t work without a base of strong performers. Fern Street’s got that.

Oreste, Ottavio and Pietro Canestrelli, also known as the Canestrelli Brothers, are professional acrobats who used to perform in Sea World’s City Streets program. Their best bit, saved for the finale, is one in which they do a comic scene in a restaurant that begins with two patrons trying to steal food from another and ends with all three in a bread fight.

Steven Hess and Sean McKinney do some expert juggling, also studded with comic bits. Elysia Paladino, working side by side with a talented young girl, Selena Yancho, does graceful acrobatic and contortionist feats. Local comic Don Victor holds the thread of the show together by introducing characters and bridging the numbers as needed. The spirited music, performed live by Mark Danisovszky, Eduardo Garcia and Highkin, punctuates the action.

This is not a seamless circus and certainly not a slick one. Some of the balls are dropped. The clown routines could be shorter or sharper. The kids would probably have liked it if the misnamed Mr. Magic character (Don Victor) actually knew a few magic tricks. But its home-grown aspects make it more accessible and likable to the kids squeezing up as close to that red ring as possible.

And so much was done with so much skill and such infectious good humor that a delightful time was had by all.

FERN STREET CIRCUS

Artistic director is John Highkin. Stage director is Gale McNeeley. Costumes/choreography by Cheryl Lindley. Set by Aida Mancillas, Lynn Susholtz, Cindy Zimmerman, Anna O’Cain and Zeva. Stage manager is Eric Grischkat. Musicians are Mark Danisovszky, Eduardo Garcia and John Highkin. With Kory Abosada, Jamie Adkins, Oreste Canestrelli, Ottavio Canestrelli, Pietro Canestrelli, Eugene Dardin, Eamonn Doyle, Steven Hess, Sean McKinney, Elysia Paladino, Quita Smith, Benny Syversen, Don Victor, Selena Yancho and John Highkin. Performances are at 5:30 p.m. Fridays and 1 and 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through Oct. 11. Tickets are $4 for adults, $1 for children. At Grape Street Park, 28th and Grape streets, San Diego. 231-1484 .