Once a circus performer, now a Bronx playwright, Victor Vauban Jr. finds a new stage

Many people dream of the idea of joining the circus, seduced by the larger than life excitement and magic. Victor Vauban Junior, a longtime Bronx resident, did more than just dream, he made it happen.

After joining a circus in his teens, and living the reality of that dream, traveling and performing in tents with long hours and long weeks, Vauban is now living his second dream, as a playwright in New York.

“It wasn’t an easy life,” Vauban said of his days as a trapeze artist in a circus that traveled across the United States. “We had 14 shows a week in the tent. We didn’t have time to meet people. We just knew the people who worked with us.”

A dreamer and a doer who moved to the Bronx 22 years ago from Brazil, Vauban is finding that show business has many faces, going from circuses to theater, as a playwright, director and sometimes performer.

His play “Leaves” is running at the New York Theater Festival, at Teatro LATEA on the Lower East Side of Manhattan from Jan. 15 to Jan. 18.

Vauban was born and raised in São Luís, in the Northeast of Brazil, in the countryside near the city. “We were poor, but we had enough to eat,” he said. “There was always food on the table.”

He decided to move to Rio de Janeiro, a city with more opportunities at 15 years old, enrolling in a circus performance school.

“I had to find a way of making a living. I didn’t have an education or a profession,” he said. “That was the way I found to improve my life.”

Vauban studied and learned “circus arts” such as acrobatics, trapeze and clowning, then auditioned for the UniverSoul Circus, based in Atlanta.

“He took 12 acrobats to America and I was one of them,” Vauban said. “That’s how I came to America.”

Although he traveled all over the United States, he didn’t have time to sightsee or get to know the places they were visiting. Performers came from around the globe, from Africa, Asia and Europe, rehearsing and doing shows.

“Most of us did not speak English,” he said. “We had to find a way to communicate.”

Victor Vauban’s play, “Leaves” follows a woman who dreamed of becoming a superstar in a singing group and then met a young man who plays baseball. Photo courtesy Victor Vauban Jr.

Vauban performed with a number of international circus companies, including Gran Circus Norte-Americano, Beto Carrero Show, Gran Bartholo Circus and Circus Amok. He also taught in a program run by the Cirque du Soleil and Cirque du Monde.

“The Cirque de Soleil has programs around the world for the most part in communities that are struggling,” he said. “We teach classes two or three times a week to kids 7 to 21 for free.”

After traveling with circuses and teaching circus arts, Vauban sought to study at Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), learning to read and write in English and then write plays, under the tutelage of Mario Giacalone.

“That’s where I learned about play writing,” he said. “That’s how I got involved. I was very successful. I had no idea I could write, especially in a language that wasn’t mine.”

Rather than write about the circus, Vauban began writing plays about life in New York, including troubles and struggles.

“Me being a Black person, I was surprised how many people of color here are behind bars,” he said. “One of the first pieces I wrote was about that.”

He said he’s very inspired by jazz singer Nina Simone and resonates with her statement that “The artist should reflect the time.”

“I see what’s going on in the world and that inspires me to write stories people can relate to,” Vauban said.

His play, “Martin’s Truth,” about three African American men at the “lowest point in their lives,” was performed at the Strawberry Festival and won the festival’s award for Best Actor.

His newest play, “Leaves,” about a woman faced with the loss of loved ones, won Best Play.

“My inspiration comes from what I see going on in the world,” Vauban said. “I see a lot of people struggling with mental health who go untreated. Especially in the Black community, it’s a taboo. It’s about family as well.”

“Leaves” follows a woman who dreamed of becoming a superstar in a singing group and then met a young man who plays baseball. They marry, create a family, and move to Syracuse, but she loses her husband and children in a car accident.

“This loss affects her profoundly,” Vauban said. “She lives in the memories she had when they were alive. Then her sister arrives and confronts her.”

Alexis Braxton, Ben Rowe, Patricia Fields, Joy Foster, Obi Nwako and Sania Hyatt star in the play.

“The primary themes of this play include assimilation, loyalty, colorism, the importance of family and mental health,” Vauban said.

“Leaves,” which ran twice in 2022 and 2024 at Theater for the New City is running as part of the New York Theater Festival, at Teatro LATEA at , 107 Suffolk St, on the Lower East Side.

The play is being performed on Jan. 15, 2026 at 6:15 p.m.; Jan. 17, 2026 at 2:15 p.m. and Jan. 18 at 6:00 p.m.

Tickets are $30 at the New York Theater Festival website and at the door.