our people
Meet the people who make SHOW run!
Henry Wheaton
Executive Director/Owner/Instructor
Specialization: Solo and Duo Trapeze, Partner Acrobatics, Cube
Henry (he/him) first became involved with the theater in high school in 1987 as a tech, doing set construction and lighting. Starting in 1988, Henry was hired as a lighting tech by his college theatre. After getting his undergraduate degree, he went briefly to graduate school and taught for several years in elementary and middle school for a variety of public schools in the Boston area. He also ran a rock climbing program and high ropes course for summer camp, which introduced him to the principles behind anchors and proper use of climbing equipment.
Henry kept active by participating in ultra distance bike racing, specializing in 24 hour races. In 2007 Henry started taking circus classes and then applied to the Professional Track program at the New England Center for Circus Arts. Henry majored in duo trapeze and minored in partner acro. He went on to perform professionally after graduation in 2008. Henry is currently the owner and executive director at SHOW Circus Studio in Easthampton, Mass, where he is responsible for rigging and maintaining the aerial equipment, teaching classes, and producing circus shows.
Margaret Butterfield
Administrator/Instructor
Specialization: Trapeze, Youth Circus, Conditioning
Margaret (she/her) fell in love with circus through the flying trapeze. Margaret began flying in 2009 when she went in search of something to relieve the stress of her academic life, and she was immediately hooked. She has a doctorate in Ancient Christian History from Harvard and has taught at Smith and Mount Holyoke, but left her academic career behind because she finds circus to be much more fun. She’s been coaching flying trapeze since 2011 at various schools in New England, and has been bringing her love of trapeze, tumbling, and other circus arts to SHOW as a coach since 2017. She lives with her husband Henry Wheaton (coach and Owner/Executive Director of SHOW), three cats, too many houseplants, and the occasional foster kitten and (human) houseguest.
Tara Jacob
Operations Support/Instructor
Specialization: Acrobatics, Object Manipulation, Introductory Aerials
Tara (she/her) loves being upside-down! Though she did gymnastics as a child, she got her first taste of contemporary circus as a teenager at The Circus Space in London, England and fell in love with the fun, creativity, and community she found in the circus. Since then, Tara has founded a college circus collective, traveled the USA in two summer street circus tours, and taught flying trapeze and acrobatics at several summer camps. Tara was thrilled to find a training space and circus community at SHOW in spring of 2010. She quickly became an AcroJam enthusiast and was the front desk intern during spring 2011. After completing the 2012-2013 Professional Track program at the New England Center for the Circus Arts, Tara began teaching youth and adult classes at SHOW. She is also SHOW’s Operations Support.
D. Lightman
Office Administration/Front Desk
D (they/them) is delighted to be involved with circus arts after years of encouragement from friends. They developed a love for creative and playful movement through eighteen years as a dancer, dabbling in gymnastics, choreography, and four years of playing and coaching roller derby. They are proud to be the first genderqueer captain of the first all-gender/no-gender roller derby team (that they are aware of). D is a communications professional with expertise in violence prevention, technical support, and program coordination. They value community and enjoy being part of a team. When they find a project they care about, they are eager to jump in and work behind-the-scenes to keep things running smoothly. D is excited to be providing administrative support at SHOW!
