Behind the spectacle, there are always secrets.Unruly crowds descend on Crillicks Variety Theatre. The young, mixed-race actress Zillah is headlining tonight as The Great Amazonia,a Savage Queen from Darkest Africa. Zillah, an orphan from the slums of Victorian London, knows that her rise to stardom is her ticket to freedom and, she hopes, to high society. The absurd caricature of her role, along with the leers of the drunken audience, are simply the price shes willing to pay.Zillahs late mother made her promise to make a better life for herself, and now shes on the verge of attaining everything shes ever dreamed of. But when Crillicks newest Black actress suddenly disappears, Zillah is haunted by worrycan she risk her own neck to save this troubled stranger?A reckless pursuit of the truth takes Zillah into the underbelly of the cityfrom gaslit streets to the sumptuous parlors of Mayfairas she seeks help from both rich admirers of the Great Amazonia and notorious criminals from her past, and where she will quickly find herself torn between two powerful worlds.A stunning and deliciously immersive debut, Lianne Dillsworths Theatre of Marvels is a riveting journey across Victorian London and an unforgettable tale of race, identity and a womans reclamation of her fate.
