Cirque Mechanics brings ‘Birdhouse Factory’ to Mendel

Inspired by modern circus, Cirque Mechanics finds its roots in the mechanical and its heart in the stories of American industrial ingenuity, with its style wrapped in acrobatic, mechanical marvels and a bit of clowning around.

“Birdhouse Factory” takes place in a “widgets” factory, circa 1935, where workers are brought together by the most unlikely of events: a bird accidentally injured by the main steam boiler. The accident and caring for the bird bring the workers closer and inspires them to break away from the efficiency and monotony of the assembly-line mentality and display their true inner talents and abilities.

The show was inspired in part by the masterful industry murals of Mexican-born artist Diego Rivera, the outrageous illustrations of cartoonist Rube Goldberg and the slap-stick style humor of the Charlie Chaplin film “Modern Times.”