Family : Small Top Enchants All Ages

The Fern Street Circus is a throwback to a sweeter, simpler time when nimble, fast-witted performers could tumble, joke and juggle smiles out of kids who could be awed by towering dragons on hidden stilts.

For five years, the park location and individual acts have changed, but not the irresistible ambience of John Highkin’s one-ring community circus that draws patrons from throughout Southern California.

The audience still sits on grass next to a big red ring, close enough to shake hands with clowns and get squirted by the tears of Brunellus the Donkey, courtesy of Rhys Green and Chrissy Vogele in a funky four-legged costume.

This year’s show, “A Feast of Fools,” plays through Sunday in Balboa Park’s eucalyptus-shaded Camp Cahito--and it’s a charmer.

There’s always a story line for each show--some thin thematic thread that ties nearly 20 fast-paced acts together.

This year, the Grand Master of Ceremonies (Ottavio Canestrelli) is at odds with the Jester (Eusebio Chavez). The bickering, however, doesn’t have a payoff until the final scene when both complain about each other to Columbina (Cheryl Lindley) like sparring siblings demanding a judgment--a scene the children in the audience found absolutely riveting.

Of course, what they loved best was the Jester complaining loudly about his injuries while passing off his kicking of the Grand Master as “accident, accident.”

Canestrelli, member of the eighth generation of circus performers, puts a professional panache on the proceedings with his expert tumbles and nimble three-legged-man.

Last year’s tumbling act with three Canestrelli brothers as patron, waiter and freeloader in a restaurant is sorely missed. As compensation, we get the feat of Pietro (Pop) Canestrelli holding up a ladder with his feet while his 9-year-old grandson, Emilio Terranova, dressed as a monkey in a bellboy suit, clambers up to descend upside-down in true monkey-like fashion.

Another welcome newcomer is trick-rope dancer Tony Munoz. Expert juggler Sean McKinney is back, as is Jamie Adkins, a whiz at flipping knives while riding a unicycle on a slack wire.

Kadye Diane, a former showgirl with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, brings sly wit to the “animal-taming” of performers in animal costumes. She takes on the stage name of Eartha Sabel-Williams--a take on Ringling Bros. lion tamer Gunther Gebel-Williams.

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Cheryl Lindley’s clever costumes and Cindy Zimmerman’s cloth painted sets provide bright and whimsical eye-catching pleasures. Pea Hicks’ music plays wicked little riffs on the adventures at hand.

The circus, which has defined its mission as a community circus, both to entertain and to involve children, includes a number of acts that basically shoehorn the kids--one as young as 3--into short scenes.

But it’s that mix of aspiring amateurs--30 from the company’s free After-School Circus Skills Program in Golden Hill--with professionals that gives Fern Street its get-up-close-and-join-in feeling.

It’s appropriately inexpensive--$1 for children and $6 for adults. And most important, the show’s infectious sense of celebratory delight strikes a chord that lingers for the young and the young in heart.

* “A Feast of Fools,” Camp Cahito, 3101 Balboa Drive, Balboa Park (between Quince and Upas streets, near 6th Avenue), San Diego. Friday, 6 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Ends Sunday. Resumes Oct. 14 and 15, 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. at Golden Hill Park, 25th Street near Golden Hill Avenue. $6, adults, $1, youth 12 and under. (619) 235-9756. Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes.

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Ottavio Canestrelli: Scorpio, Grandmaster of Ceremonies

Eusebio Chavez: The Jester

Garry Irvingwhite, Cheryl Lindley: Clowns

A Fern Street Circus production. Directed by John Highkin. With Kory Abosada, Pietro (Pop) Canestrelli, Tara Canestrelli, Kadye Diane, Wade Green, Mari-Kohl Lewis, Ilona Lucia, Ken Marushige, Perry Martin Jr., Sean McKinney, Kenio Miller, Tony Munoz, Joanna Paterson, Rebecca Starr, Emilio Terranova. Choreography: Christina Jones-Stewart. Musical direction: Pea Hicks. Costumes: Cheryl Lindley. Sets: Cindy Zimmerman. Stage manager: Spike Sorrentino.