Clarls Just Want to Have Fun

Veronica Charlemagne, she ran away to join the Circus (Kirsten Throndson)
PT Cruzer, he runs the Circus (Donovan Workun)
Vera Bixtash, the Bearded Lady (Vince Forcier)
Bruno Nicolas Adonidas, half horse and half man (Tom Edwards)
Lillian Leitzel, aerialist extreme (Stephanie Wolfe)
Clarl, a clown (Jason Hardwick)
Ne Pas Nible, the contortionist (Rebecca Bissonnette)
Natalia Buczyk, the fortune teller (Nikki Hulowski)
Buckaroo Dandy, star roping cowboy (Gordie Lucius)
Willem Broderick III, the stagehand (Breck Whiltshire)
Agnes, the tattooed lady (Kelly Turner)
Carnie Cruzer, twin brother of PT Cruzer (Peter Brown)
Burr Lee, The Strong Man (Katie Hudson)

VERY SPECIAL GUEST
Michalene, the real circus artist (Michalene Giesbrecht from Cirquetastic)

Daring Director: Jake Tkaczyk
Midway Melodies: Paul Morgan Donald
Tremendous Technicial: Nichole Man
Prime Producer: Nicole Thibault
Succinct Synopsis: Louise Mallory

ACT 1

Veronica and Clarl meet Lillian at the midway. Lillian explains that she went home to see Mama and get advice. She imparts the wisdom from Mama, Papa, and her arm tattoos in a powerful blues number. But after that highwire wedding, she’s left with performance anxiety and stage fright.

Vera and Bur Lee process Willem’s violent death. Vera shot blindly, then watched Bur Lee bury all the parts of the body. Vera asks BurLee to take the fall for him, as Vera is more vulnerable, and Bur Lee agrees.

PT and Natalia are resuming their planning to suck Willem’s life force, but Natalia sees in the cards that Willem is dead. When Bruno comes to tell them Willem is dead, it’s anticlimactic. Bruno still tells them the details, shot by shot and hit by hit. But who did it? It was shadowy, but Bruno saw a large person with a beard. Natalia’s cards clarify that it wasn’t PT. The Queen of Pentacles – not testicles – is a woman with masculine energy, like the Bearded Lady.

Veronica reminisces about the days when she was appreciated for her skill at Plate. Now the circus is all about death and killing. A mannequin, named Ann-akin, speaks, telling her to love herself, and incidentally mentioning that Bur Lee shot Willem. Veronica rushes off to tell everyone.

Everyone gathers in the office for the reveal. All the shooting and murdering was done by … Bur Lee! He runs away. Clarl is skeptical. PT pulls a gun on Vera. Natalia reminds PT how to suck Vera’s life essence. Veronica’s Plate seems to intercept the shot.

Lillian then chases Bur Lee until he trips. Lillian hits him with the dumbbell.

Meanwhile, back to the office at the moment of the gunshot. The Plate deflects the shot, and it strikes Clarl in the gut! Natalia attempts to suck his life force.

Vera announces a special act: Michalene the real circus performer performs a hoop acrobatics number. It is awesome.

ACT 2

Lillian catches up to Bur Lee and hits him with the dumbbell. But why did Bur Lee confess? He was framed – you know how the circus is! He escapes again.

Bruno paces with all four feet, while he and Vera discuss the new trend towards violence. Bruno’s classical monologue covers woe, the netherworld, and tridents poking people in their nether regions. Bruno saw the shooting but it was shadowy. Vera laments that all these strong men are around but not protecting her. She stumbles into Bruno’s forearms, this leads to a touching duet ballad and a kiss. 

Lillian is still chasing Bur Lee, but PT stops her, and Bur Lee escapes. This is the first moment they’ve had alone together since their wedding. So much has happened. They have both lost a son and lover in Willem – they have even more in common now. They want to get married again, but this time like normal people. Another kiss.

Veronica goes to Natalia for advice. There is so much blood around now; it reminds Natalia of her homeland. She suggests that maybe Veronica drew all the death to the circus because there are demons inside her. She reads a spread of cards for Natalia, including a choice to go or stay, a question of what Veronica is hoarding or hiding, and a definite Purpose. She suggests blood ritual and they leave together.

As Clarl is recovering from being shot in the gut, BurLee staggers in. They agree that being shot is different in real life than in books. Bur Lee tells Clarl that he didn’t kill Willem, but he confessed because of love. Will BurLee and Vera marry? 

Vera gazes into a mirror, and the mirror girl, resembling Michalene the hoop performer, responds cryptically while the mirror turns.

PT and Lillian meet with Bruno to figure out how to return the circus to normalcy. PT feeds Bruno a sugar cube. They don’t want any more death, zombies, or murder, just happy acts. Maybe one with many Clarls tumbling out of a carriage. If they can’t get the circus back from normal, PT and Lillian will run away from the circus to Life. Do they need to find the murderer first? Various suspects are listed: someone with a beard, an interloper, a demon, a werewolf, a vampire. They hit on the idea of leaving PT out as strong-scented bait at midnight at the full moon. After they perform an incantation, they leave him out farting fragrantly for the vampires and werewolves. 

But that last bit was just a daydream – what actually happened was that PT and Lillian said they’ll leave unless things return to normal.

Natalia approaches the mirror. She senses the presence of a springtime spirit, smelling of daffodils and grandmothers. The girl in the mirror is her sister Dimitria, whom Natalia has been seeking for years.

Clarl is with Veronica, while simultaneously Vera is with Bur Lee. Clarl is recovering. He is proud of Veronica for all she’s learning. But she’s learned that there’s a demon in Clarl, that brings failure to the circus. Meanwhile, Vera tells Bur Lee that he’s melted her heart. The heart is a muscle. Vera claims to feel a connection. But Vera shoots BurLee, several times, with terrible aim, while Veronica kills Clarl with one snap of the neck. Their spirits rise as they monologue. Clarl is going now to a place he will be happier, while BurLee is heading somewhere he no longer needs to be strong. Their heavenly duet fades out to … 

BLACKOUT.

Photos by the one and only Janna Hove