Acrobatic Conundrum brings world-premiere ‘Trust Fall’ to Lopez

Published 1:30 am Thursday, July 30, 2026

In a few short weeks, the aerial rig will rise once again in front of the bandstand at the Lopez Center, and Acrobatic Conundrum will fill the sky above it. This time, the Seattle-based circus company is bringing something the island has never seen: the world premiere of its newest show, “Trust Fall.”

Artistic Director Terry Crane said the company will spend a full week on Lopez before opening night, building the show from scratch in what Crane calls “bootcamp style rehearsals.” The cast includes performers Crane has worked with for years alongside several new collaborators, among them a rope artist from Montreal and an aerial fabric performer from Seattle. Guiding the process is director Jaron Hollander, a puppeteer, mime, and clown whose circus career spans the Bay Area and beyond. It is the company’s first time working with Hollander, and Crane said the team is thrilled to have him.

Lopez has long been a special place for Acrobatic Conundrum, which has performed on the island roughly a half dozen times over the past twelve years, according to Crane. Crane recalled one memorable night during the pandemic, when the troupe performed outdoors on its rig in front of the Lopez Center and drew an enormous crowd. Residents of a senior living community across the street came out onto their porches to watch the show unfold from a distance.

Crane traces a personal path to the circus that began with climbing trees and doing theater as a child, before falling in love with aerial work. What keeps drawing Crane back, they said, is the way a company becomes more than the sum of its parts, with each performer’s act combining into something larger on stage.

Asked why audiences should turn out now, Crane pointed to a culture increasingly absorbed by screens and algorithms. “It’s so easy for us to get kind of lost in our screens and sort of cornered by the algorithms," Crane said. Live theater offers something different: a chance for a whole community to gather in one place and experience the same moment together. “There’s something almost just kind of psycho-spiritually important about sharing those moments of theater together,” Crane said. “It’s a really beautiful and important thing for communities to experience art together.”

That argument extends to worries about artificial intelligence displacing performers. Crane acknowledged the concern but said it will be a long time before technology can replicate live circus, particularly the genuine physical risk performers take on. Watching people attempt superhuman feats, Crane said, reminds audiences that they themselves are alive.

For newcomers curious about aerial arts, Crane joked that “the great pyramid scheme of circus works like this: audiences watch a show, get inspired, and end up taking classes themselves.”

Aficionados can expect original, technically striking work from the cast. Unlike previous Pacific Northwest tours, this stop is exclusive to Lopez; the company will not be appearing on Orcas Island or San Juan Island this time around, though Crane’s email notes additional stops planned in Olympia and on Vashon Island. Crane closed the interview with genuine gratitude for local arts journalism and said the whole cast is looking forward to meeting the community in person.

Friday, Aug. 7 and Saturday, Aug. 8 — Lopez Center for Community and the Arts at 204 Village Road, Lopez Island — Outdoor Pavilion

For more information and tickets, go to: https://tinyurl.com/lopezcenter