Off-B'way Review: The Burning Cauldron of Fiery Fire

Bobby Moreno, Bartley Booz, Cricket Brown,
Donetta Lavinia Grays, Jeff Biehl, and
Bruce McKenzie in The Burning Cauldron
of Fiery Fire. Credit: Carol Rosegg

I was looking forward to Anne Washburn’s The Burning Cauldron of Fiery Fire, a co-production of The Vineyard Theatre and the Civilians playing at the former’s Off-Broadway space. Washburn’s Mr. Burns: A Post-Electronic Play was a clever and moving depiction of a grim electricity-free future where the only entertainment is re-enacting episodes of The Simpsons. Her 10 Out of 12 was a delightfully daffy send-up of tech rehearsals of a struggling theater company. Burning Cauldron has an interesting central premise, but Washburn fails to develop it significantly. None of the characters are relatable. The main action doesn’t go anywhere and its theme is unclear. The play is a rough first draft. Very rough. Steve Cosson’s indifferent direction and the flat performances fail to make up for the script’s shortcomings. By the end of two hours-plus running time, my only reaction was “What a waste of time and talent.”

The first act does show potential. We’re in a farming commune in Northern California. (Andrew Boyce’s homey set imparts rustic charm.) The crunchy-Granola residents’ goals appear to be getting away from the madness of modern civilization, conveyed by the cast reciting natural images of their property Greek-chorus style. One of the members, a painter named Peter (Tom Peckina), dies under mysterious circumstances and his co-habitants don’t want to contact the authorities. Government bad, remember? Milo (Bobby Moreno), one of the many children in the commune, speaks to the audience as a grown-up and informs us that he never liked Peter and also gives his impressions of life in the community from his perspective as a grown man. Washburn seems to offer foreshadowing that Milo had something to do with Peter’s death, also that the child was sexually molested by one of the other adults in the group, but these plot elements are never really developed.