CHAIN REACTION

Duration: 50 minutes

Choreographer: Stefania Georgieva
Composer: Dobromir Kissiov
Dancers: Kalina Georgieva, Eleonora Miteva, Ralitsa Nikolova, Neli Georgieva, Desislava Stefanova
Video: Vivian Parvanova
Production: ATOM Theatre
Partners: Business Park Sofia, Poiema Collective, RCCA “Toplocentrala”

Sometimes we come across those elaborate Rube Goldberg machines—overly complex devices performing simple tasks in absurdly complicated ways. A marble knocks over a domino, lighting a candle, burning through a rope, triggering yet another mechanism, until everything ends in an unexpected and clever twist.

In truth, this description often fits our lives more than it does those amusing chain reaction videos. Even the smallest daily task unfolds through a sequence of tiny, interlinked steps—each one vulnerable to failure. Leaving the house means finding the keys, waiting for the elevator, brushing snow off the car, hoping the bus arrives on time or that the nearest Spark car has a working battery. We only notice the “gears” of the system when they fail; the rest of the time, on the way to kindergarten or in line at the tax office, we move through life like the marble—effortlessly and under pressure, all at once.

Chain Reaction places the performers inside such a system—a living, breathing machine carrying out simple actions through absurdly complicated processes. The piece magnifies the fragility, humour, and tension embedded in these daily mechanisms, inviting the audience to witness the choreography of cause and effect in motion.