Our Circus Presents Pa

Every day, the Birdman performs the same ritual: he climbs out onto his window ledge to see if he can manage to kill himself'”and never does. The Birdman is a member of a loose-knit group of failed suicides, each pursuing absurd ways to end their lives: one saving up lost-dog reward money to buy enough good whiskey to drink himself to death, another hoping to contract a fatal disease by sleeping with as many women as possible. When it seems these routines will continue indefinitely, the Birdman meets a 'œprofessional'� suicide: the dangerous and inscrutable 'œman with orange suspenders,'� who makes a living by trying to hang himself whenever he sees a potential rescuer approaching. This chance encounter, which leads at last to a real death, will force the Birdman to confront the roots of his desire to escape from life, and to see first-hand that dying is more than just a rehearsal.