This iteration of Strange Root was high on my 2026 list. Last year’s version blew me away. Baccellieri brilliantly performed to Maya Angelou’s The Mask (a re-working of Paul Laurence Dunbar’s 1895 We Wear the Mask), used aerial acrobatics to simulate Black lynching, and did a stirring hoop performance to Childish Gambino’s This is America. I love when Black performers use their platforms to address political topographies. When I learned Baccellieri planned on tackling Barnum’s racist practices, I was ecstatic. <\/p>\n
Barnum\u2019s painful history<\/p>\n
While many Americans view Barnum as a benevolent showman, he frequently monetized racial stereotypes. He circulated African American cook William Henry Johnson<\/a> as a “man-monkey” hybrid. He found Joice Heth in 1835 through an ad in the Philadelphia Inquirer. R.W. Lindsay had purchased her from John S. Bowling of Kentucky and displayed her in Philadelphia\u2019s Masonic Hall. Both Lindsay and Bowling claimed she was George Washington’s nurse<\/a>. Barnum leased Heth for one year while working her 10-12 hours per day until she died. After last year, I was certain Baccellieri would do justice to Heth\u2019s story.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s Strange Root<\/p>\n The strengths in this show are the same as last year: the trapeze performance to Billie Holiday\u2019s Strange Fruit, the Childish Gambino hoop set, and the eerie rendition of Maya Angelou\u2019s The Mask<\/a>. Baccellieri\u2019s choreography to each individual word, including a deliberately awkward head tilt at Angelou\u2019s \u201ccalls me girl\u201d line, were chef\u2019s kiss. <\/p>\n Unfortunately, the newer elements don\u2019t add to the advertised PT Barnum theme, especially the techno bass introduction. While Alston, a beloved clown performer, served as a Vaudevillian palate cleanser between Baccellieri\u2019s emotionally weighted scenes, I felt they could\u2019ve leaned harder into portraying Barnum\u2019s minstrelsy politics. <\/p>\n Based on the title, I expected a show addressing the 19th-century freakery culture and racial stereotypes common to the circus world. The direction takes too light a touch in tying the individual performances together. In total, only five minutes of the performance actually address the show\u2019s titular characters, Heth and Barnum. <\/p>\n Missed opportunities<\/p>\n The production could have provided a more cohesive narrative by opening with the Joice Heth overview followed by a floor routine using the autopsy shroud as a dance veil. While I would have preferred to see newer material, the show could\u2019ve used Baccellieri\u2019s older pieces to explain the existing 19th-century race culture Barnum took advantage of. If the show marked Alston as the ringmaster at the start, they could have leaned harder into Barnum-style grotesquerie<\/a>. <\/p>\n I also would have loved a collaborative finale: could Alston and Baccellieri have cleansed the show of Barnum’s influences and moved to the future? There are even other Black circus figures this show could\u2019ve addressed, like Sarah Baartman<\/a>, the Hottentot Venus, and others<\/a>. As a Philadelphian, I wish the show creators had recognized that Barnum discovered Heth in Philly. The show also suffers because the performers do their own circus setup mid-performance. It\u2019s better to have someone else do it, or redirect the attention with another performer. <\/p>\n Amazingly precise<\/p>\n But Baccellieri is an amazingly precise performer. Their transitions are organic, their flow is graceful, and their lines are strong. While I was disappointed at not seeing newer material, the audience at the performance I attended did not feel that way, giving the cast a standing ovation. So if you haven\u2019t already seen Strange Root, come on out. It\u2019s part of International Black and Indigenous Circus Week<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our Fringe Coverage Friends Drive donors made this review possible. Be sure to subscribe<\/a> so you can stay in the conversation! If you want to join our supporters, you can make a gift here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Correction: In the original version of this review, Jenn Kidwell was listed as a co-director. She contributed to the piece’s development, but did not direct. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This iteration of Strange Root was high on my 2026 list. Last year’s version blew me away. 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