“I.O.U.S.A.,” a documentary that examines America's crushing national debt, will be screened at 7 p.m. today in Room 100 of PLU’s Ingram Hall.

Directed by Patrick Creadon, who made “Wordplay,” the lighthearted yet gripping 2006 documentary about crossword puzzle devotees, “I.O.U.S.A.” features interview footage with such financial heavyweights as former Federal Reserve chiefs Alan Greenspan and Paul Volcker, as well as Warren Buffet and Robert Rubin, Treasury secretary during the Clinton administration. Given the financial crisis currently gripping the nation, it’s particularly timely.

The screening is free.

Cirqueworks acrobat Russ Stark on the German Wheel. Photo Darin Basilie.

Remember Cirqueworks? That Cirque-du-Soleil-style stage show about the mythical Birdhouse Factory that came to the Pantages back in September last year? Well, they're making good in New York, running at the New Victory Theater to rave reviews like this one by Lawrence van Gelder in yesterday's New York Times:

"If a production line cranked out adjectives to appraise “Birdhouse Factory,” the results would certainly include exceptional, evocative, eye-catching, ear-catching and, to keep the list short, engrossingly entertaining...Sagiv Ben Binyamim and Elisabeth Carpenter perform high-peril acrobatics aboard a rope and swinging lamp; he returns with Aloysia Gavre, the show’s choreographer, for a remarkable combination of acrobatics and tango atop an industrial-size spool."

Yes, that sultry, bendy tango was my favorite number, too.Van Gelder continues the rave:

"Khongorzul Tsevenoidov, whose spine seems made of rubber, is the troupe’s amazing contortionist. Russ Stark, Wes Hatfield and Michael Redinger amuse everyone as they leap from wall to trampoline and back again, doing a variety of flips and flops along the way. There is plenty more.
Intelligently conceived and expertly executed (more e’s from the production line), “Birdhouse Factory” is, in a word, excellent."

Well, hey, New York, we saw them first! Not only that, but it's partly due to our support, and the entrepreneurial vision of the Broadway Center who brought them here, that Cirqueworks are getting good gigs rather than cashing unemployment checks. As I said in my TNT preview of Sept. 14, 2007:

"This year, the 12-member Cirqueworks has a respectable tour of 15 back-to-back shows. Says (founder Chris) Lashua: "People like David Fischer at the Broadway Center are willing to take risks with us. It would be a hell of a lot easier to get out there and do a Cirque du Soleil clone. The tough thing is being original. But when you take risks, you get recognition for being a responsible artist."