A crowd estimated at close to 300 people gathered Sunday afternoon at Portland’s Fort Allen Park to watch a performance by a Vermont-based theater group known as Bread and Puppet Theater.
Performers in the event, billed as the Domestic Resurrection Circus, entertained the crowd with politically charged skits that ranged from the often fruitless telephone call-in effort to speak to a live person about obtaining employment benefits to the history lesson not taught in public schools – the 1921 Tulsa race massacre. Mobs of white residents some of them deputized and carrying weapons attacked Black residents while destroying their homes and businesses in the Greenwood district of Tulsa.
A diverse crowd of people attended the circus, but many were parents, who brought their school age children. The skits, which were filled with puppets of all sizes, touched on some of the more urgent issues of the day such as the Supreme Court’s refusal to block a Texas law prohibiting most abortions.
Ian Bannon, Executive Director of Mayo Street Arts, said his organization, which is located in Portland’s East Bayside neighborhood, presented Sunday’s circus knowing it would be politically charged. It was the third outdoor event that Mayo Street Arts has been able to stage since August, but next week the organization plans to host its first indoor performance since the COVID pandemic locked the state down in March 2020.
Actors with Bread and Puppet Theater perform a sketch about American influence in Haitian elections during the Domestic Resurrection Circus at Fort Allen Park on Sunday. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer
Roochie Toochie and the Ragtime Shepherd Kings’ Maine Songs Tour is scheduled to perform Sept. 9 at the Mayo Streets Arts Center, 10 Mayo Street, Bannon said. The venue has a seating capacity of 85 people.
Bannon said he was thrilled at Sunday’s turnout. “I especially like the backdrop,” he added, referring to Casco Bay. Fort Allen Park is located on the Eastern Promenade offering visitors panoramic views of Fort Gorges, the islands of Casco Bay and South Portland’s waterfront.
Sunday’s performances featured featured stilt dancers, paper mache beasts of all sizes, and Bread and Puppet’s brass band. After the show, Bread and Puppet served sourdough sourdough rye bread with aioli. Bread and Puppet serves bread after its shows because food and theater belong together, according to the group’s website.
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