There is “event theatre” currently on the boards in Hartford with the world premiere of Circus Fire, an original play by Jacques Lamarre, being presented by TheaterWorks at a new location, the First Company Governor’s Foot Guard in Hartford.
The deadliest disaster ever recorded in Connecticut and one of the worst fire disasters in United States history, Circus Fire charts the days in July 1944 before and after the tragedy, which took 167 lives and more than 700 injured, mostly women and children. Working from transcripts, court documents and much more, Connecticut playwright Lamarre does a solid job of gathering the information and dramatizing this historic and extremely sad story.
The fire broke out during a hot July afternoon performance of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, which included the famed Flying Wallendas and clown icon Emmett Kelly. It was estimated that nearly 8,000 were in attendance and Lamarre deftly introduces us to some of the actual people from that day, from moms promising their children a trip to the circus, to the circus employees and the law enforcers who did the follow-up examination following the tragedy. It’s a lot to pack into a 90 minute play (without intermission), but the story moves well and we learn plenty along the way.
Circus Fire is a play of incident and moments, some stronger and more meaningful than others. I did keep thinking, however, that Lamarre was leading us to a bigger picture, a more crucial overall theme that never really arrives. This is a fairly straight-forward report about the tragedy with no extra meat on the bones. Some is terrific, including the acting company of 12 all playing multiple roles. Caroline Kinsolving is truly moving as a nurse instructed to lie to a parent about her dead child, and Mike Boland’s melancholy Emmett Kelly makes you wish he was given more scenes as the sad clown.
Busy director Jared Mezzocchi is also creative with the “multimedia experience”. This includes his non-stop projections supported by Ron Denton’s lighting and original music and sound design by Lindsay Jones. All of this is expertly conceived and produced. If nothing else, Circus Fire seems to be in constant motion. Most of this works flawlessly, but I was left wondering how the play would perform without all the extras? And I often found myself attempting to read the projections on the ceiling while ignoring the action on stage.
But Circus Fire will certainly be embraced by the people of Connecticut as a stirring tribute to an unthinkable tragedy that is delivered here with technical expertise as well as soulful empathy.
Circus Fire continues at TheaterWorks at the First Company Governor’s Foot Guard, 159 High Street, Hartford, Connecticut now through May 31. For further information or ticket reservations call the theatre box office at: 860.527.7838 or visit: www.twhartford.org.
Tom Holehan is one of the founders of the Connecticut Critics Circle, a frequent contributor to WPKN Radio’s “State of the Arts” program and the Stratford Crier and former Artistic Director of Stratford’s Square One Theatre Company. He welcomes comments at: tholehan@yahoo.com. His reviews and other theatre information can be found on the Connecticut Critics Circle website: www.ctcritics.org.
