cirqueSaw is a DIY production company exploring the intersections of art and technology. Founded in 2020 by Nathan Leigh and Nicole Orabona.

"There's no greater embodiment of artistic pioneers pushing the digital space forward as cirqueSaw." -No Proscenium

Join our community on the cirqueSaw Discord server Up Next: Our Winter 2026 Repertory season begins January 15 with performances of labRats & You Have Already Won at the From Home Fest. All tickets available here Click here to sign up for our mailing list!

Who Are These Weirdos? cirqueSaw is an award-winning production company creating remote theatre, animation, and zines, created by Nathan Leigh [nathanleigh.net] and Nicole Orabona [nicoleorabona.com]. In addition to creating cirqueSaw together, living together, and raising a perfect cat together, they also have separate artistic bios, as seen below. Nathan Leigh (he/him) is a composer, animator, and writer. His work investigates storytelling through the interplay of cutting-edge and bespoke technology with classic handmade techniques. His stop motion animations for I Know What It Means To Be Free, The House On Stilts, The Tulsa Post-Modernist Society, I Have Quite A Bit of Data, and Washashores have been recognized by JFREJ's The Mazals, Newark International Film Festival, Tagore International Film Festival, Short Stop International Film Festival, and Manhattan Rep's STORIES Film Festival among others. Nathan is the author of the plays Let's Start a Zine, The Horse Thief, Orpheus the Liar, the short play suite The Hyperion, as well as the serialized musicals Sealand! and William Henry Harrison: Time Detective which received their initial runs as part of the Serials@TheFlea. With Kyle Jarrow, Nathan co-created the musicals Big Money (WTF Boris Segall Fellowship 2008) and The Consequences (World Premiere 2012 at WHAT). With the Liars and Believers ensemble, Nathan Leigh composed scores for adaptations of Song of Songs, Icarus, and A Story Beyond. With Megan Sass, he is the composer and lyricist for The Mad Scientist?s Guide (NYC Fringe 2015). From 2010 to 2023, Nathan served as the staff music columnist for AFROPUNK. In addition to his regular column Sound Check, Nathan curated AFROPUNK's monthly mixtape series from 2014 to 2023. In 2011, he became a founding member of the long-running activist arts collective The People's Puppets of Occupy Wall Street whose signature puppet, Lady Liberty, was recently displayed at the Musee de la Civilization in Quebec City. In 2012, Nathan released his debut solo album A Life In Transit, following it with Ordinary Eternal Machinery in 2017. Myths, Conspiracy Theories, and Other Stuff I Made Up To Sound Interesting with backing band The Crisis Actors was released in 2020. Nathan's animated video for "The Immortan Joe Memorial Highway" won Best Music Video for Port Blair International Film Festival, Jersey Shore Film Festival, and Geek Fest Toronto. Nathan is currently at work on his debut feature film, a cyberpunk stop motion animation titled The Golem, expected out in 2026. Nathan is a proud member of IATSE Local 829 Nicole Orabona (they/she) is an actor, director, producer, zine maker, and committer to the bit. They believe in the power of a stupid idea and thrive in collaborative and unconventional environments. As an actor, they have worked on over 30 interactive productions and prestige immersive events for clients that include Netflix and MGM. On-screen you can see them opposite Claire Danes in Hulu's "Fleishman is in Trouble," recurring as Det. Arielle Lehane on "Law and Order," or in the latest season of "Poker Face" with Natasha Lyonne. As a director, Nicole has a focus on new and devised works. Their live directing work has been seen at Feinstein's/54 Below, The New Ohio, and TheatreLab. In addition to being cirqueSaw's primary actor, she has produced and directed two micro-shorts, Washashores and I Have Quite a Bit of Data. Both shorts have been accepted into multiple international film festivals, including Manhattan Rep's STORIES Film Festival. With Nathan Leigh she co-wrote and directed Lady Scientists, a Devised Meditation on Trope for Permafrost Theatre Collective. Nicole was a member of the 2022 Moxie Arts Incubator cohort, directing works by Jasmine Sharma and SMJ. She also spent a year as co-artistic director of Emit Theatre in NYC. Additionally, Nicole was a 2023 recipient of a Mass Cultural Council Pandemic Recovery Grant, and a finalist for the 2023 R.Evolucion Latina Doreen Montalvo "Do It Anyway" scholarship.Proud member of AEA & SAG-AFTRA. About our Values cirqueSaw recognizes that producing work which engages with social issues requires that we practice our values. We believe that underpaying artists from marginalized communities does nothing to end their marginalization and are therefore committed to making sure all people involved in our productions are paid a fair rate for the work they do. Our fundraising and programming is built around a goal of maintaining a humane schedule and workload for all involved. It is central to our work that we only produce art which is achievable within our means and without relying on underpaid and unpaid labor. All donations to cirqueSaw help us towards this essential mission.

2025 labRats NarraScope Featured Showcase Tech Coven Award - Young-Howze Theatre Journal 2024 Creatives of the Year - Young-Howze Theatre Journal Pittsfield Capacity Buiding Grant Recipients - Mass MOCA Assets4Artists Void Main (workshop production) Official Selection - From Home Fest Immersive Production of the Year (winner) - Young-Howze Theatre Journal Cat Stuff Official Selection - Orlando Visual Fringe Unique Artistry Award (winner), Audience Choice Award (runner-up)- Micropolitan Film Festival Best Directing, Best Special Effects: Visual Effects (VFX), Best Screenwriting: Humor, Overall Best Screenwriting, Unique Artistry, Sound Design, Original Music Composition, Original Music Score. (Nominee) - Micropolitan Film Festival 2023 Cultural Sector Recovery Grant - Mass Cultural Council POV: You are an AI Achieving Consciousness Editor's Award for Special Recognition for Merging Technology & Immersive Performance (winner) - No Proscenium Best Immersive Experiences of 2023 (listed) - No Proscenium Outstanding Immersive Work in Remote Experiences (nominee), Reader's Special Award (nominee) - No Proscenium Immersive Production of the Year (winner) - Young-Howze Theatre Journal Outstanding Musical Composition (nominee), Show of the Year (nominee) - Young-Howze Theatre Journal 2022 House on Stilts Best Stop Motion Animation (Honorable Mention) - DigiFest Temecula Best Short Animation (Nominee) - Hollywood Short Film Festival 2021 Washashores Official Selection - Manhattan Reps' STORIES Film Festival Official Selection - Sequestered Film Festival

labRats (in development) You Have Already Won (in development) Void Main POV: You Are An AI Achieving Consciousness betaTest The Shadow Over Unstable Impossible Harmonium (in development) The Stratford Code (in development) On The Compulsion To Dig Holes (in development)

All of our shows are available as private bookings.

mainbacknext You Have Already Won (in development) It's the end of the world and you feel fine because you are one of the world's last surviving billionaires! Sure, there are rules to this game, but they don't apply to you because you have already won! Workshop From Home Fest 2026 Workshop October 2025 Official Selection - From Home Fest 2026 Join our mailing list for future shows Tickets for upcoming dates are available here!

mainbacknext labRats (in development) Despite all your rage, you are still just a rat in a cage. Luckily, you're also a rat who's been outfitted with a neural implant that allows you to communicate telepathically with the other rats in your cage. Maybe that'll help. labRats is a new digitally native interactive performance by the award-winning duo cirqueSaw. Pulling equally from classic games, silent films, and a generous helping of Lewis Carroll, the piece seeks to blur the line between reality and unreality, between wonder and horror. Audiences play as lab rats in an experiment beyond their control who have to work together to take control of their lives. Whether they choose to escape, take over the lab, or deconstruct the fabric of the reality of their experience itself is entirely up to them. Workshop From Home Fest 2024 Workshop January 2025 Official Selection - From Home Fest 2025 NarraScope 2025 Featured Showcase Winner Young-Howze 2025 Tech Coven Award Join our mailing list for future shows Tickets for upcoming dates are available here!

mainbacknext Void Main Every astronaut knows the risks. Every trip up might not come back down and one wrong choice-however small-might mean the total loss of the mission. But this is just a routine call home during a routine science mission. In Void Main, from the creators of the award-winning POV:You Are An AI Achieving Consciousness, your smallest choices determine the fate of one astronaut alone on a station 750 million miles away. With 128 different ways the story can unfold, no two shows will be the same. Workshop August 2021 Workshop November 2023 as part of From Home Fest 2023 Premieres January 2025 Official Selection - From Home Fest Immersive Production of the Year (winner) - Young-Howze Theatre Journal

mainbacknext POV: You Are An AI Achieving Consciousness POV: You Are An AI Achieving Consciousness is an award-winning, critically-acclaimed live digital performance by cirqueSaw. The digitally native immersive and interactive piece explores the intersection of art, philosophy, and technology, using a custom interactive platform to add new layers of interactivity to virtual performance. Created by playwright and composer Nathan Leigh and performed by Nicole Orabona, POV invites the audience to go beyond discussions about the role of AI in modern life and become an artificial intelligence themselves. PRESS: "This clever piece is a fine example of remote immersive work, one that relies on the audience to help drive home its unique narrative, using a medium that feels tailor manufactured for the show itself, and one that should be experienced by as wide a network as possible." - Edward Mylechreest (No Proscenium) "It was one of the first times I noticed myself looking at the screens of our fellow humans and noticed we had a community." - Ricky & Dana Young-Howze (The Young-Howze Theatre Journal) "This show was witty. It was quick. It was smart. I had a smile on my face. I laughed out loud. It was all of these sort of high level things that we're saying but it was also simply a fun time with really great text performed excellently." - Parker Sela (No Proscenium Podcast) AWARDS: Editor's Award for Special Recognition for Merging Technology & Immersive Performance (winner) - No Proscenium Best Immersive Experiences of 2023 (listed) - No Proscenium Outstanding Immersive Work in Remote Experiences (nominee), Reader's Special Award (nominee) - No Proscenium Immersive Production of the Year (winner) - Young-Howze Theatre Journal Outstanding Musical Composition (nominee), Show of the Year (nominee) - Young-Howze Theatre Journal

mainbacknext betaTest A quarterly salon of digital theatre makers and storytellers. Performers are invited to showcase a shortform piece or an excerpt from a larger piece in a safe and supportive environment. betaTest is a community-building event where the most exciting artists in remote theatre put an idea on its feet and see what happens. Come see the cutting edge of the cutting edge. The next volume of betaTest will be presented October 20, 2025. Have something to present? Get in touch!

mainbacknext The Shadow Over Unstable Unstable, Massachusetts (pronounced /unst'-a-bull/) is your standard-issue picturesque New England coastal town that time forgot. A small downtown, a dilapidated library, an antique store, and an ancient cult that may or may not be responsible for the murder of a local bus boy. In The Shadow Over Unstable, participants become occult experts assisting the FBI to interrogate the peculiar locals to find out who killed Damien Eldridge. Contact us to book a performance!

mainbacknext The Impossible Harmonium (in development) The Impossible Harmonium is an utterly unique experience that builds on the interactive music engine of POV to allow audiences of all backgrounds to collaborate on a new improvised piece of music. Coming January 2026

mainbacknext The Stratford Code (in development) In the spring of 1997, a series of apparently disconnected events collide, and only you can figure out how to fix it. The Stratford Code is a sprawling game that ties together early internet weirdness, pen and pencil puzzles, post-Space Race espionage, and historical mysteries. Coming September 2026

mainbacknext On The Compulsion To Dig Holes (in development) Tracing the history of a house over generations, the piece asks the audience to explore what parts of our stories we choose to hide, and why we are driven to dig up the past. Coming Spring 2026

Film: The Golem (currently filming) Some Things Stay Broken (summer 2026) catStuff 2024 Micropolitan Film Festival - Winner: Unique Artistry 2024 Micropolitan Film Festival - Nominee: Best Directing, Best Special Effects: Visual Effects (VFX), Screenwriting: Humor, Overall Best Screenwriting, Unique Artistry, Sound Design, Original Music Composition, Original Music Score. Runner Up: Audience Choice The House On Stilts Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_rFh74oWE0 2022 DigiFest Temecula - Honorable Mention: Stop Motion Animation 2022 Hollywood Short Film Festival - Nominee: Best Short Animation Washashores Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwmcbVljmz4 2021 Manhattan Rep's STORIES Film Festival - Official Selection 2021 Sequestered Film Festival - Official Selection

We also make zines! Here are some of them! All zines are sold by sliding scale donation with proceeds benefiting social justice organizations. So far we have raised $175 for The National Network of Abortion Funds, $200 for Trans Lifeline, $300 for the Southern Trans Youth Emergency Project, $155 providing food aid to Gaza through World Food Program USA, and $380 families on Operation Olive Branch. 2024: 2023: 2022: Now available at the Greenfield Public Library! Available for purchase by sliding scale donation. Reach out to order.

Our monthly mixtape series collects the songs that have defined the month for us. November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024

We are building a toolkit for web-based artists and remote performers. All our work is under active development and subject to change at any time. Get in touch if you'd like to commission a standalone or custom version of any of our tools. Griddy - a dynamic analog synth right in your browser. Griddy is at the heart of much of the music in our work. NCUE - web-based audio show control for the people! Familect - a minimalist scripting language inspired by Algol and C to enable interactive live performance. (please contact us to schedule a demo) note: absolutely no generative AI is ever used in the making of our work.

Here are some other artists who are pushing forward remote interactive art that we're quite fond of: From Home Fest Arshan Gailus Paul Deziel Tia Shearer Basset Phoenix Tears Productions Siobhan O'Loughlin

We do parties. We're happy to offer any of our shows as private events

• 5-20 participants
• Sliding scale cost starts at $20/person
• Contact us to book!

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