Keili Simmons Marble, William Irvine and Lindsay Smalley are members of the chorus

The cast also includes a Chorus of actors, who together play various roles in the action: freaks in the show, audience members at the shows, the French scientists who study Venus, and (as in the above photo) members of a British court deciding whether Venus is being exploited.

All the actors except Session and Davis play more than one part during the course of the play. There are other unusual elements to the play. It starts at the end, the characters introduce themselves at the beginning, and it includes dreams, historical documents and a play within the play.

Though Parks tells her story in unusual ways, with elements of ritual and an antic humor, “it’s a pretty clear play,” says director Jean O’Hara. “It’s very poetic and rhythmic, it’s fast-moving and she uses repetition in the way music or dance does, but it’s really clear what’s going on. You never lose sight that this is a real human being living a life.”