Seven Days: Vermont's Independent Voice

Whistle While You Work

If assembly lines were as fascinating as Cirque Mechanics makes them out to be, we’d all be queuing up at the nearest manufacturing plant. But this is a case of art imitating life with a twist — and some turns. You can catch the talented troupe composed of Cirque du Soleil and Moscow Circus vets in Birdhouse Factory this Friday. A hodgepodge of contortionists, trapeze flyers, trampoline wall artists and more play the parts of factory workers in this acclaimed act drawing on Diego Rivera’s industry murals and Charlie Chaplin’s satire of industrialization in Modern Times. “Together, the balancing, tumbling, contorting, and death-defying tricks make for spectacular eye candy that could earn millions in Vegas,” asserts Guardian Magazine. Who says clowning around at work doesn’t pay off?