Fire as a Dramaturgical Material: Beyond the Wow Effect

When you practice fire arts, you know the effect well: the flame grabs attention, the audience reacts, the job is done. But some artists have done something else entirely with fire, far from the juggling acts and street fire-breathers: Bachelard, Yves Klein, a Spanish magician, a clown, a pyromaniac circus character. This essay is a wander among them, looking for what they might have been looking for in fire beyond the performance.