Theaterworks offers a compelling recollection of Hartford's darkest day in "Circus Fire"

Once again, Theaterworks Hartford has created a play-going experience like no other. Rob Ruggiero's direction of Connecticut-based playwright Jacques Lamarre's "Circus Fire" squarely hits home and deeply touches the heart as it reminds a community to never lose sight of the 1944 tragedy that took over 160 lives.

On a personal level, I could not escape the irony of attending "Circus Fire" at the historic Governor's Foot Guard Armory the same evening the 2026 Ringling Brother's Barnum and Bailey Circus opened at the People's Bank Arena - a five-minute walk away. I wonder how many of those seated in Theaterwork's special venue for "Circus Fire" - a mile downtown from the theater's home - thought of the real-life Flying Caceres Family trapeze act performing in the arena a few blocks away, as they watched a simulated Wallenda-family tightrope walk overhead, via projections on the ceiling as spotlighted actors on the on an upper level mimed the physical movements of high-wire artists. This mastery of illusion together with additional work by"Circus Fire's"multimedia expert Jared Mezzocchi also had the audience seemingly surrounded by lions, radio broadcasts, investigators, and, with his eeriest simulation by far, the vile villain of the show -a blaze across the Big Top.

In true circus fashion, the audience surrounds a circular stage at the Foot Guard Hall as the play - which begins with modern day tourists looking for the city's circus fire memorial on Barbour Street - then flashes back to the day the ill-fated matinee of the Greatest Show on Earth came to town over 80 years ago. A versatile ensemble of a ten equity actors - all with Connecticut ties - and two Hartt School of Performing Arts interns portray over 100 roles : circus attendees and actors, neighborhood helpers, crime investigators, news broadcasters, medical staffers, and more - all mostly changing from one simple costume of simple folk to another, from one complicated emotion to another.

Though the tragic day starts linearly as families ready to head to the circus, once the fire starts - virtually - by use of fiery projections on the Big Top, the troupe of actors portraying victims, spectators, performers, and helpers create a fast-paced, fragmented transition from mini-scene to mini-scene. Thus the chaos of the unfolding disaster is effectively achieved. There are the parents who cannot find their children, an interrogator astounded, in the aftermath, to discover that the Big Top was not only never treated to resist fire ( but instead coated with flammable paraffin thinned with three parts of gasoline to make it waterproof), a nurse who is ordered to lie to a recovering patient about her daughter's demise.

One of the multiple faces played by actor Mike Boland is that of Emmet Kelly, the renowned clown known well before the fire for his iconic grease-painted frown. Yet Boland manages to convey just as much if not more compassion and sadness with his silent waddle off stage than even that of his down-turned visage. Others contributing to this poignant retelling of Hartford history include Constantino Fernandez, Olivia Nicole Hoffman, Rebecka Jones, Caroline Kinsolving, Anastasia Maglaras, Eric Orsini, Stuart Rider, Janell Anne Robinson, Godfrey L. Simmons Jr, Marco Verna, and Dan Whelton.

As I left the show my thoughts turned back to the throngs of circus-goers leaving the People's Bank Arena simultaneously and the good fortune that their family night would end with fond memories. Do they know they have Hartford tragedy of July 6, 1944 to thank for nationwide safety reforms including bans on flammable canvas, mandatory flame-retardant waterproofing, strict exit requirements and increased fire personnel on site, transforming circus safety standards to prevent future disasters? Lest we not forget the 167 Hartford circus fire victims, at least half of them children.

“Circus Fire,” written by Jacques Lamarre, direction and multimedia experience by Jared Mezzocchi and conceived by Lamarre, Mezzocchi and Rob Ruggiero, runs through May 31 at the First Company Governors Foot Guard, 159 High St., Hartford. Performances are Tuesday through Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m., with an added matinee May 27 at 2:30 p.m. $65-$80. twhartford.org.