IN THE TREE OF SMOKE

In The Tree of Smoke from elndzvastieree on Vimeo.

In The Tree of Smoke is the third installment in a series of shows whose end goal is to create a fully realized production in the face of a lack of resources. It is a circus show that is both a swan song to a San Francisco that no longer exists, and a celebration of the cutting edge in American un-step performance. Featuring world renowned circus performers and set in an infinitely branching network of recursive and contradicting realities, In The Tree of Smoke is, above all, an experiment. Inside the maze of its un-storyline the question is posed: Is there space for art in a world which no longer deems it relevant?

The show is a story of trying to escape from a reality that crushes you by virtue of your very nature. In the end, you can't escape the prison you are blind to; like a tangle of branches that barely has substance but still holds you captive. The first step to being free is to acknowledge that you are trapped. Finding the way out and taking it are two different experiences- this presentation deals with the former.

In The Tree of Smoke creates worlds and moments in time rather than stories. Set in a place with no endings, it seeks to find a beginning in the middle. The characters- poor artisans who are masters of their craft, practice their work for a world that endeavors to crush them out with nothing more than indifference. The very act of creation becomes defiant, a refusal to perish in an environment that demands your death.

Each character is a response to this conundrum. The minimalist set rises and falls, a contradiction of brevity and deceit. Whatever dreams live and die in this setting, its very makeup stands as a reminder that ultimately, everything falls apart.