About Cirque Jag Productions
Pretty & Gritty in The Iron City
My name is Lindsay Surmacz, and I wanted to be many things when I grew up including a circus performer. I finally took the dive into circus arts in 2017, and now, I consider myself part artist, part mad scientist, and a staunch proponent of STEAM education. Oh, and I'm a percussionist. I have worked in theatre since I was old enough to hold a paintbrush; and I have been holding drumsticks since I saw STOMP! live at age 8.
“Realize that everything connects to everything else.” - Leonardo da Vinci
Circus is a culture of coordinated confusion. It requires a community of people combining artistry and analytical skill in ways that prove the surprising heights of human potential. Cirque Jag Productions operates in that same spirit.
Part creative studio, part marketing project, this experiment in coordinated confusion integrates film, circus, theatre, music, and writing into a product greater than the sum of its parts. It’s where art works not only for its own sake but as a catalyst for both cultural and economic vitality.
This multidisciplinary approach extends to The Starry MessengerⓇ as well. Research suggests that creative performance art, when used in conjunction with other proven methods of scientific inquiry, is especially effective in enhancing students’ learning and retention of science between Kindergarten and grade six.
As the educational outreach initiative of Cirque Jag Productions, The Starry Messenger teaches elementary-aged students astronomy through circus arts. Since its inception in 2019, this suite of programs has welcomed thousands of young learners throughout the Greater Pittsburgh region to “The Greatest Show in The Universe.”
A Pittsburgh Circus
Pittsburgh runs on its own brand of creativity. Scrappy, resourceful, and unapologetic. Cirque Jag Productions thrives on this maker mentality. The circus of our heroes has stripes of black and gold.
Every story told here, whether in writing or on film, takes a big picture and tells it through a pretty, gritty Yinzer lens. Local artists and local spaces are front and center, building each other toward something bigger, stronger, and more honest.
If the Pittsburgh spirit endures, it’s because it demands that the world accept us for who we are. Sharp. Shrewd. Neighborly. And the kind that stands up and cheers for a pierogi race. Between our pierogies, parking chairs, and contempt for ketchup that isn’t Heinz, you can take it or leave it. Either way, we’ll never be sorry.
This type of eccentricity is the lifeblood of a Pittsburgh Circus. It’s where rust and rhinestones coexist. A cirque jag is a playful acrobat. A sophisticated clown. A daredevil too wise to be fearless but too determined to back down.
All of this belongs to an exquisite act in which strength and grace are partners, whether in the spotlight or waiting in the wings. No matter where they are, they move in service of the same belief: art is not a luxury, and artists aren’t an afterthought.
History
Cirque Jag Productions was founded in 2025 as the combination and refinement of two brands: Punk & Pie Circus and The Starry Messenger. Both were founded by Lindsay Surmacz, a local artist and native Pittsburgher whose creative career spans circus arts, theatre, music performance (percussion and voice), creative writing, informal science education, and digital media (especially video production and marketing).
The Starry Messenger was the first of these brands to materialize in 2019. Punk & Pie Circus grew out of the pandemic of 2020. When remote entertainment became the only option for a once-gigging performer, Punk & Pie Circus became a platform for customized video greetings by a juggle-drumming punk (Surmacz). By the next year, The Punk’s “Thank You’s” and “Happy Birthday’s” gave way to more ambitious experiments with video editing, location scouting, and storytelling.
This evolution produced projects like The Busk, The Blast Furnace, and Parking Chair Circus. These were seeds from which more stories, with more storytelling techniques, grew. Characters had names and dialogue. And the setting became even more essential. There was no writing Pittsburgh out of the stories.
The next logical step for this creative mayhem was to unify all these multidisciplinary initiatives under one brand. One in which a Pittsburgh Circus was the connective tissue. The result is Cique Jag Productions, using collaborative art as a vehicle for education and economic health.
Influences
Cirque Jag Productions draws from an eclectic mix of inspirations.
And because this is, after all, a circus gig, this list should look and sound like a clown car:
full of colorful characters you didn’t see coming.
In no particular order, this inspirational clown car includes:
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Cirque du Soleil
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Ted Lasso
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Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood
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Galileo
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Roberto Clemente
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Rachel Carson
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Andy Warhol
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Saturday Night Live
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Monty Python’s Flying Circus
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Parks and Recreation
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Stephen Sondheim
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Pittsburgh Dad
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Scrubs
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Stephem Spielberg
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Michael Katon
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Billy Porter
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Jeff Goldblum
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Nordic Legends
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Rusted Root
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Blue Man Group
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Marketing Millenials
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Mayor of Kingstown
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Maurice Ravel
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Tina Turner
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Eddie Izzard
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Mac Miller
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J. Aaron Hager
Looking Ahead
Cirque Jag Productions is growing into a collaborative ecosystem. A space where performers, makers, educators, and local businesses can come together to activate art that works and cirques.
This circus is still forming around its three rings:
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Creative Experimentation.
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Storytelling.
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Digital Content Strategy.
The objective is well-crafted, well-distributed content that amplifies the voices behind Pittsburgh’s unique cultural pulse.
What new acts will emerge? Keep watching and reading to find out.
Find Your Jag Show
Ways to support
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Subscribe to The YouTube Channel
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Reach out for potential collaborations and circus arts bookings
Contact Cirque Jag Productions
