The circus is coming to town, but this show is set in a factory filled with acrobatic workers, including trampoline wall artists, contortionists and a trapeze artist.
Cal Poly Arts will present Cirque-Works “Birdhouse Factory” at the Performing Arts Center on Oct. 2 with a 7 p.m. curtain.
Inspiration for the show stems from the industry murals of artist Diego Rivera, the illustrations of cartoonist Rube Goldberg, and the style of humor found in Charlie Chaplin’s film, “Modern Times.”
“Rivera did the Detroit industry murals that gave us the color palette and style. A lot of our decisions come from that as a template,” director Chris Lashua said. “The murals were commissioned to display the power and spirit of the assembly line of the factory at Ford. His motivation was the great things that could be done when people worked together.”
“Birdhouse Factory” opens with the dull manufacturing work that happens in a drab factory environment set in the late 1930s or early 1940s. Everything changes one day when a bird makes its way into the building and gives the workers fresh creativity.
“The show is a display of what happens when people decide to take a situation that isn’t so great for them and turn it into something that works for them and is productive,” Lashua said.
The creative team is composed of Lashua, assistant director and choreographer Aloysia Gavre, and character actor and performer Steven Regatz. All three have a background in Cirque du Soleil.
To convey innovation, the set is made up of various pieces of machinery. The show is centered on a furnace that was designed by Shawn Riley, and was influenced by a mechanical apparatus Lashua built that interacted with a German Wheel.
The audience will also encounter the Spin Cycle, which Lashua described as an eight-foot round table with wheels underneath that is driven by unicyclists and displays a contortionist’s act.
Every machine is used as a prop for a circus act. Audience members will see a tango on the Chinese Pole, circumvolutions on the German Wheel, and object manipulation and physical comedy.
The 12 cast members hail from Russia, Canada and Mongolia. They are former members of Cirque du Soleil, the Pickle Family Circus and the Moscow Circus.
“‘Birdhouse Factory’ is akin to what people would see at Cirque du Soleil shows. The difference is what we’re not doing fantasy. That is the thing people notice and are proud of,” Lashua said.
Students and children receive a 50 percent discount on all seats to the show.
General public tickets range from $36 to $44 and are sold at the Performing Arts ticket office from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.
Tickets are also available by phone at 756-2787, by fax at 756-6088 or online at www.pacslo.org.