Ever since I was a little kid, the circus has fascinated me. The fact that these performers traveled the world, putting on a grand show every night, before disappearing into the cover of darkness, was always fascinating to me. While the circuses of late 80s and early 90s were still fun, they didn’t have that charm that I imagined from the days of old. Not that I ever got a chance to experience an authentic circus from their early days, but that especially always captured my attention.
However, thanks to The Speakeasy Society, that has now changed. They have teamed up with Two Bit Circus, the in-door amusement park in downtown Los Angeles, to bring us a series of shows called UNDER THE BIG TOP. The first of these endeavors is subtitled ATLAS, and was a powerful, and heart-wrenching, tale of life under the big top.
With a bit of revisionist history, the show allows audience members (one or two at a time) to peek behind the curtain a tiny bit and interact with performers from 1928 to learn of a tragic tale. You see, Two Bit Circus is located on the same exact spot that a tragedy occurred. A flood wiped out the area, and along with it, the circus.
With a bit of time travel magic, Envision Technologies is a modern-day corporation that was contracted to stabilize a series of “time jumps” to the circus that were performed. However, their lead scientist, Dr. Olivia Xanders, has gone missing and she’s left a message asking for our help. Of course, who I am to deny the call of duty?
While the hustle and bustle of Two Bit Circus can be quite overwhelming sometimes, UNDER THE BIG TOP: ATLAS took place in a quiet corner of the building. After being instructed of the rules of time travel, we found ourselves traveling down a long hallway where a voice called out to us. It wasn’t long before we were in the dressing room of one of the performers from that circus in 1928, as she was in-between acts, getting ready to get back into the spotlight.
Coming off their success of THE KANSAS COLLECTION, and gearing up for their remount of THE JOHNNY CYCLE, The Speakeasy Society is no stranger to staging large scale, multi-performer pieces that really blow us away. However, ATLAS was much more of an intimate affair, placing the audience of one or two with a single performer for 30 minutes to tell their story. It takes not only a great story but also a capable actress to do this, and without a shadow of a doubt, ATLAS does with that gusto.
Though two performers handle this role on different evenings, we had to pleasure of seeing Dasha Kittredge work her magic. From the moment we stepped into her ‘dressing room,’ my time traveling companion and I were captivated with her and her story. And what a story it was.
Kittredge was Kitty, a lifelong circus performer who started at a young age when her father got her into trick riding with her horse. Mistaking us for her new assistants, we helped her get ready as she told us more about her life. As always, Kittredge is a masterful performer, and showed us a deep range with Kitty; from her fondest memories as she described her old act, to her darkest despair as she told of her current situation.
The Speakeasy Society has always done quite well with their storytelling, weaving a narrative into something special. And while the story here was fantastic, it was really Kittredge who sold it in an unbelievably amazing way. She truly made us feel for Kitty, and when faced with a tough decision, we were brought to tears along with her. I’ll be thinking about that moment for quite some time, that’s for sure.
Though we were told of the impending flood before our journey back to the past, it was imperative that we not make mention of the coming events. Kitty’s story was already heart-breaking, but knowing that, in just a few short hours, she will likely die in the raging waters made it even more tragic. The fact that our time with her made me feel sympathy and remorse for her fate is a true testament to the writing of this show.
Even though UNDER THE BIG TOP: ATLAS took place within a busy Two Bit Circus, it truly felt like we were transported into the past. The staging and set design was quite wonderful, and with a little bit of audio trickery, it really did feel like we were back in 1928 in Kitty’s dressing room. Simple, yet very effective.
UNDER THE BIG TOP: ATLAS is the first of 4 interwoven narratives. Each show is stand-alone but is also part of a larger narrative. Attending all four shows will unlock a fifth piece of content that will conclude the overall story. In addition, there is some optional, puzzle content that you are given that takes place online, and while I did not get a chance to jump into that yet, I cannot wait to.
While the flood, and our impending time jumps, are the main reason for us to see these moments in time, it wasn’t the focal point of the story, which I appreciated. I am very intrigued to see how it all comes together in the end.
UNDER THE BIG TOP: ATLAS is a great piece of intimate storytelling, and definitely something that immersive fans should not miss.
UNDER THE BIG TOP: ATLAS is $70 for 30-minute time slot, and each slot can accommodate up to 2 audience members. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at: www.speakeasysociety.com
