Dämon Zirkus

Within the nomadic confines of a Weimar-era traveling troupe, Dämon Zirkus unspools a claustrophobic tapestry of professional envy and erotic desperation. Paula Busch, leveraging her lived expertise as the sovereign of the circus world, crafts a narrative where the sawdust ring serves as both a stage for physical prowess and a crucible for psychic collapse. The plot hinges on the volatile equilibrium of a romantic triad, where a female proprietor’s fleeting favor triggers a cascade of resentment among the performers. As the wagons traverse the German landscape, the internal friction between the cast—played with silent-era intensity by Claire Lotto and Carl de Vogt—mirrors the peril of their high-wire acts, culminating in a tragedy where the distinction between the performative mask and the private self dissolves entirely. It is a visceral exploration of the 'demon' that haunts those who live for the applause of the crowd, capturing the grit and glamour of the circus with an authenticity rarely seen in contemporary studio productions.