Acrobatics at sea coming to PT

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A series of lights at night, acrobatics and song will arrive at Point Hudson Sept. 12 - 15, as the Caravan Stage Company docks in Port Townsend.

The Caravan Stage Company, featuring a troupe of singers and acrobats, presents “Nomadic Tempest,” a mythical saga of four monarch butterflies, embodied by multicultural aerial artists, searching for refuge on a drowned planet.

Founder, captain and artistic director, Paul Kirby explained their delay in arriving was due to complications in acquiring visas to perform in Washington. Before the setback, the company performed in British Columbia where they requested visas through “Priority Processing,” which would get the crews their proper clearance within 15 days.

Kirby said the combination of an overloaded border crew and the recent immigration controversies delayed them in receiving their visas, necessitating another 15 days and rescheduling their performances. According to a press release from Caravan Stage Company, for the past 15 years the organization has not had any problem touring the United States.

Since the rescheduling, the Caravan Stage Company has performed in Everett and Bellingham on board its 90-foot tall ship. According to Point Hudson Marina personnel Kimberly Matej, the Amara Zee, a replica of a Thames River sailing barge, has an anticipated arrival date of Sept. 7 and will be docked at Union Wharf. They will then move to Port Hudson on Sept. 10 after the Wooden Boat Festival subsides.

Kirby and Adriana Kelder created the company in 1970, which originated as a one-wagon puppet show traveling on Vancouver Island. Throughout its early years, it gained enough members and clout to be pulled by Clydesdale horses for its 25 actors, musicians, artists and technicians in six wagons.

The start of bringing the production to the sea came in 1993, after spending a year presenting a seven-hour show, taking them as far as the World Theatre Festival in Toronto, Canada. The first Caravan Stage Barge was intended to create an innovative theater style, and has taken them all over the world.

The company, which tours as the world's first tall ship theatre troupe, returns once again to the West Coast after a 31-year international voyage taking the artists and crews to Europe, the Mediterranean Sea and the Great Lakes.

The Caravan Stage Company will arrive in Port Townsend for a series of performances on the waterfront the evenings of Sept. 12 - 15.

Tickets are available for each date at eventbrite.com or by visiting caravanstage.org. Tickets are donation-based with a suggested amount of $25 per adult, $20 for students and seniors, and $10 for children 14 and under. Seating at Point Hudson Marina, 103 Hudson St., will open at 7:30 p.m. and the show will run from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. each night.