VISARE
An Immersive Circus Fantasia
Clare Fuyuko Bierman + ERika Ji
In this immersive theatrical experience, audience members are transported to a fictional Central-Eastern European nation where they are new employees of the world renowned, fantastical circus Visare. As you explore the world backstage, you soon learn that the bright spectacle of the circus hides a dark underbelly: though the performers are spoiled with feasts and bounty, the immigrant laborers are starving and on the brink of revolt.
As you piece together your version of the story, will you choose to drink the night away with the nihilistic clown, or join the revolution against the charismatic ringmaster? Are you happiest surrounded by smoke and mirrors, or will you burn down the beautiful, insidious illusion?
Or perhaps you’ll forge a path all your own. Visare is an artistic experiment in fractured narrative that allows audience members to discover their own answers. If a hallmark of fascist leaders is giving simple answers to complex questions, we instead create a theatrical experience that instead gives people the space to explore and wrestle with the complexity of multiple perspectives and incomplete information. Although no one person sees everything that happens, if you share your perspective with others, you might slowly begin to develop a more nuanced understanding of the truth.
VISARE draws inspiration from the intimate immersion of Sleep No More, the mysterious worlds of CIrque du Soleil, and the folk storytelling of Fiddler on the Roof. The music is principally inspired by nouveau cirque and Central & Eastern European folk instruments.
Currently in development. Additional materials available on request.
- December 2024 — Songwriters' Showcase at Hibiya Theatre Creation in Tokyo, Japan sponsored by 東宝 (Toho)
- July-August 2024 — composer residency at Butter Hill
- August 2023 — composer residency at KHN Center for the Arts
- September 2021 — nominated for the Bret Adams & Paul Reisch Foundation's Vivace Award
- May 2021 — developmental reading in NYC
- April 2021 — workshop & concert for the New Voices Project in Los Angeles
- February 2021 — residency at RE: with support from Darling Aviary in Sacramento
- December 2020 — developmental reading
- October 2020 — developmental reading
Lead Vocals by Lissa deGuzman, Mason McDowell,
Carrie Caffrey, Monica Howe, and Clare Fuyuko Bierman.
Ensemble Vocals by Joe Badore, Clare Fuyuko Bierman,
Matthew Billman, Gabbie Ballesteros, Carrie Caffrey,
Brandy Hoang Collier, Alec Galambos, Erika Ji,
Kennedy Kanagawa, Meghan Marks, Mason McDowell,
Gabrielle Mirabella, Joshua Muetzel, Carah Naseem, Shu Q,
Julio Vaquero Ramos, Enzo Veiga, and Shuyan Yang.
Violin by In Young Cho, Cello by Caitlin Thomas, Guitar by Nathan Riebli.
Artwork by Daniil Rybkin and Yeseul Kim.
Special thanks to Deborah Brevoort, Mindi Dickstein, and Randall Eng.
Lead Vocals by Lissa deGuzman,
Mason McDowell, Carrie Caffrey,
Monica Howe, and Clare Fuyuko Bierman.
Ensemble Vocals by Joe Badore,
Clare Fuyuko Bierman, Matthew Billman,
Gabbie Ballesteros, Carrie Caffrey,
Brandy Hoang Collier, Alec Galambos,
Erika Ji, Kennedy Kanagawa,
Meghan Marks, Mason McDowell,
Gabrielle Mirabella, Joshua Muetzel,
Carah Naseem, Shu Q,
Julio Vaquero Ramos, Enzo Veiga,
and Shuyan Yang.
Violin by In Young Cho, Cello by Caitlin Thomas, Guitar by Nathan Riebli.
Artwork by Daniil Rybkin and Yeseul Kim.
Special thanks to Deborah Brevoort, Mindi Dickstein, and Randall Eng.
SMOKE & MIRRORS
SOPRANO, SSATBB ENSEMBLE,
PIANO (REDUCTION)
It’s a show, it’s a narrative, it’s a fantasy, it’s a lie.
But it's a very good one, isn't it?
Petra uses a paper boat as a shadow puppet as she begins to sing. Slowly, the shadow boat’s silhouette becomes bigger and more like a real ship. The cast of the circus pours out of the shadow boat and builds the circus Visare before our eyes.
Performed by Lydia Breckon (lead vocal),
Carrie Caffrey, Enzo Veiga, Erika Ji, Gabrielle Mirabella, Mason McDowell, Matthew Billman.
Performed by Lydia Breckon (lead vocal),
Carrie Caffrey, Enzo Veiga, Erika Ji, Gabrielle Mirabella,
Mason McDowell, Matthew Billman.
BIRD CIRCUS
Baritenor, ST/AB ENSEMBLE,
cimbalom, accordion, cello, bass
Spiri, the nihilistic clown, will take any opportunity to command a room and tell a story. Here, Petra has just asked him why he hates rich, driven people and prefers to drink away his life in the Cantina. Using the Cantina workers as a pantomime ensemble, Spiri paints the scenes of the wealthy, scheming men in his life to show how he’s ultimately much happier here.
Performed by Mason McDowell (lead vocal),
Brandy Hoang Collier, Clare Bierman, Erika Ji,
Joshua Muetzel, Matthew Billman.
Performed by Mason McDowell (lead vocal),
Brandy Hoang Collier, Clare Bierman, Erika Ji,
Joshua Muetzel, Matthew Billman.
