Unlike Box of Frogs, I approached this show having read no information about it. I came to see The Invisible Circus's "The Happiness Machine," knowing only the name. Getting to the show was an experience in itself, as it took place in a big top between a river and the railroad tracks. Thought this was was my first circus in a big top, I couldn't help getting a sense of nostalgia for the traditional circus or carnival – smelling the polyester tent, waiting in line outside in a small drizzle. I wasn't sure at first if the fog in the air was from the river or from fog machines (machines, sadly, it turned out).
The show opens with a slow, folksy banjo pluck as a caravan shop resembling the Trojan horse rolls onstage, popping open to reveal a travelling salesman – the show's narrator, or possibly emcee. He remains the only character with a direct connection to the audience, and with carny-like wit comments on the rise of materialism and dispensability in the modern world. Though this show was contemporary, I'm tempted to call the salesman a ringmaster for his role – conveying the rushing activity behind him to the audience. At one point, he poses the question, "Are they really living the dream, or dreaming that they live?"
Though I felt the theme of the show was a bit clichéd, it was certainly well executed. The set is a mockup of two-story tenement buildings, with a space in the middle for a changing billboard advertising the next big product. Each circus skill fit neatly into the busy world of consumers and suppliers. An aerial hoop act was set up as a commercial for golden gloves, the latest "must-have" product. A slack wire act cleverly mocks the high-strung and teetering world of a businessman (apologies for the pun). Three aerial hoops served as an obstacle course in a game show. The opening of the show sets up a clever assembly-line style package delivery, using acrobatics on a teeterboard to deliver packages to higher tenement rooms.
The opening of the second half featured three Corde Lisses on pulleys, such that as the aerialists climbed them the rope would drop, leaving the climbing figure thrashing and twisting in vain. This was one of the darker moments of the show, as a dirty, pot-bellied character Rodney seems trapped in a couch watching his television. I don't know why the image should strike me as so tragic. When not onstage, Rodney is visible through one of the tenement windows rhythmically smoking, flipping channels, drinking, and eating. He is an anti-clown figure – you laugh, because his existence is so miserable and sad. He has no family or friends, and his only joy is watching "The Magic Door" each week. He is overwhelmed when finally his lifelong dream is realized, and he competes in the show for a mystery prize which is never revealed. Each challenge in the show leads him deeper toward an unknown goal, but very likely to be as cheap and meaningless as the other glittering products that tempt people.
Throughout, characters like Rodney search for the thing that will make them happy. One woman excitedly opens packages, each containing the must-have product of the day, only to be disappointed and discard it. Her daughter then picks them up and tries to give them to the salesman, who refuses them as useless junk. Those two had great interactions throughout the show, the salesman trying to sell her funny trinkets and her, mysteriously, enjoying them but not buying.
The show concludes with a massive free-for-all of circus – acrobats tumbling haphazardly, teeter-boards springing, bodies and objects hurled every which way – which builds into a wonderful cloud swing routine performed by the daughter character. The chaotic finale with its clean, calm finish in the cloud swing seems to suggest that the real 'happiness machine' is in this art, and in the experience of being alive just by moving freely. At least, that's what I understood of it. Meaning aside, it was a fun evening and an enjoyable show.
I'm falling behind on these posts, since I went to see The Happiness Machine a week before last Thursday. Since then, I've seen another show in Cardiff that I must share.
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