Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show

January 1932: Ben MacCarthy and his father watch a vagabond variety revue making a stop in the Irish countryside. After a two-hour kaleidoscope of low comedy, juggling, tumbling, and other entertainments, Ben s father, mesmerized by Venetia Kelly, the troupe s magnetic headliner, makes a fateful decision: to abandon his family and set off on the road with Miss Kelly and her caravan. Ben s mother, shattered by the desertion, exhorts, Find him and bring him back, thereby sending the boy on a Homeric voyage into manhood. Interweaving a host of unforgettable creations King Kelly, Venetia s violent, Mephistophelean grandfather; Sarah Kelly, Venetia s mysterious, amoral mother; and even a truth-telling ventriloquist s dummy named Blarney Frank Delaney unfurls a splendid narrative that spans half the world and a tumultuous decade.