Lights On. Leitzel Off.
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)
Daring Director: Jake Tkaczyk
Midway Melodies: Paul Morgan Donald
Tremendous Technicial: Nichole Man
Prime Producer: Nicole Thibault
Succinct Synopsis: Louise Mallory
Act 1
With the gunshot at the end of the last episode, Lillian has tumbled from the highwire with a splat. Everyone must descend the tightrope. The Brothers Cruzer must solve the mystery – they pledge to seek justice, or vengeance.
Clarl and Veronica have reached the body. They look more closely. Is it an illusion? It’s not Lillian! It’s Annette-That-Bitch!
Willem and PT are in PT’s office comforting each other. Willem has lost his mother and his lover; which is worse? He reads his conflicted eulogy. It’s very touching. Willem and PT embrace. Passionately.
Carnie meets up with Bruno for a chat. Carnie suggests sitting down, but he’s not sure if Bruno can sit in a chair. Bruno demonstrates the Horse Method. They share a sambucca. Carnie is concerned, something seems “afoot”, and he’s asking Bruno since Bruno has more feet than most people. Bruno explains that PT is open about expressing his love, possibly taking as well as giving, and maybe some people don’t like that. Someone could want vengeance!
Bur Lee leads Agnes and Buckaroo Dandy in a workout class, with muscle-popping sound effects. Agnes collapses under the barbell, but she likes what she sees in Bur Lee. Bur Lee speaks of his feelings and they agree not to tell.
Vera weeps by the garbage can, while Veronica and Clarl run all over the stage seeking her out. Vera sets aside her own woes until Act 2, to listen to their news. In a series of interpretive dance scenes, Clarl and Veronica tell of finding the body after the high-wire wedding gunshot, and recognizing Annette.
Meanwhile, while PT and Willem are embracing, Carnie discovers them. There is a good explanation. Or at least, Willem is 27 and it is consensual. Carnie mentions that the horse man has also accused PT of something inappropriate. PT says that they are also the same age, and nothing sexual happened. PT just loves everyone – like Santa. Carnie reports the development in the investigation: The body is Annette. The bitch.
Bur Lee and Agnes need to find a way for Buckaroo Dandy to be a contributing member of the circus community. Maybe he can lasso a chair again. But Bur Lee also asks Agnes to be the bell to his dumb, the curl to his biceps. Vera interrupts because he needs to borrow a gun to kill two people.
ACT 2
Clarl and Veronica need Buckaroo Dandy’s help. They tell Buckaroo that the body wasn’t Lillian, and re-enact the discovery of Annette’s body again. They are getting better at it. But because they call her The Bitch, Buckaroo conclude that Clarl and Veronica killed her.
Carnie and Agnes have an extremely awkward meeting. They discuss elaborate coincidences.
Bur Lee and Willem are back in the practice room. Bur Lee is burly, and Willem is of medium height. Willem tries Lifting. Bur Lee explains that he was mentored and inspired by PT. But just in a wholesome way. Willem reveals that it was he who tried to kill Lillian, and he points a gun at Bur Lee.
PT, Carnie, and Bruno are doing a lap about the midway, trotting and cantering. This is hard for PT and Carnie, since they have one lung each and fewer legs than Bruno. They need to talk because PT can’t trust anyone else. The question is, where is Lillian? And can they trust Bruno? Bruno has heard some things about Lillian. She was plotting to take over. She was plotting to kill PT. And nobody knows where she came from or what she has done, lost, or won.
Clarl, Veronica, and Buckaroo are still discussing Annette. It is still a mystery. Buckaroo hints at Annette’s tear-jerking backstory. But in the end, Annette didn’t have a net. They attempt a prayer in several different idioms, with music.
Willem still holds a gun on Bur Lee. He tricked Agnes. Vera sneaks in and tries to disarm Willem. The gun goes off. Willem is hit and falls. He is in pain and begs for a clean death. Three more shots ring out, followed by Vera breaking his neck like a chicken, another shot, and strangling him with the barbell.
BLACKOUT.
Photos by the one and only Janna Hove
