Mercer Theatre debuted an original play, “Dragon’s Dream: Circanium” Saturday evening as it opened with what director Scot Mann called a “New Orleans-styled” procession through Mercer Village and into the historic quad.
In the parade-like march, performers played up-beat jazz music while a colorful array of characters showed off their costumes and talents like walking on stilts.
"Circanium” tells the story of a fantasy world created by Mercer students that takes unexpected turns, causing the narrative to spiral out of the Ringmaster’s control.
“We took our inspiration from the circus and Dungeons and Dragons," Mann said. "Just like a circus, it takes a lot of people with a lot of different skills in order to make an evening of entertainment occur.”
He said some students began training for this play two years ago in a circus arts class. The fire acts were coached by the Strange Bedfellows, an act played by Kristin Wright and Jordan Harwood of Milledgeville, Ga. They play in “Circanium” as part of the Astral Flames alongside aerial performer Jessica Lyszczasz.
Harwood hooked the audience repeatedly with a trick called “The Superman,” when he rolls a dual-sided torch down his back.
“Everybody goes wild when you do that. It’s surprisingly one of the easier moves you learn," the performer said.
The other characters showed off their skills during a group fire performance with a half-dozen people. Later, two characters fought with flaming swords.
Mann said his cast and crew used a technique called “devised theater” which combines multiple ideas and disciplines into one cohesive script.
He said the guest acts were “generous enough to share these skills with our students so they could begin their own journey.”
Mercer Theatre comes back to the historic quad Sunday at 8 p.m. for their final performance of “Circanium.”
Nathaniel Jordan '29 intends to major in Journalism at Mercer and hopes to work as an investigative journalist. His hobbies include poetry, photography and home cooking, and you can probably find him around Macon shopping or walking through local parks with his wife and son.
