‘Fire in the Garden’ tells story based on notorious case of self-immolation

A spotlight shone on visiting IU theater department professor Ken Weitzman as he told the story of his own son’s birthday and a man, Norman Morrison, who set himself aflame outside of the Pentagon in Washington in 1965.

“When my wife was pregnant with my first child, I heard about Norman Morrison,” Weitzman said. “He’s haunted me ever since.”

“Fire in the Garden,” a play written and performed by Weitzman, was showcased Thursday and Saturday at the John Waldron Arts Center as a part of Bloomington’s annual ArtsWeek festival.

The play traces Weitzman’s investigation into the life of Norman Morrison and tells the story of Weitzman’s first year as a father, connecting the two narratives in the last scene.

Todd Helt, a Bloomington resident, said a lot of the scenes about parenthood were lost on him.

“I didn’t really care for the transitions,” he said. “He did a good job tying it together in the end. The transitions got stronger near the end.”

Weitzman first read about Morrison in a book on the Vietnam War. After exhausting all of his protesting efforts, Morrison set himself on fire with his 1-year-old daughter in his arms as a final demonstration in the garden below Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara’s window. Emily, Morrison’s daughter, survived the incident unscathed. All information in the play about Morrison was factual, Weitzman said, but the information about his own life was only semi-autobiographical.

“Fire in the Garden” was performed as a monologue, where Weitzman sat in the middle of the stage and told his story.

“It’s very much in the mold of Spalding Gray,” he said.

Along with Weitzman was one other actor, IU graduate student Lilia Vassileva, who filled in the monologue with quotes and other bits of dialogue.

Weitzman said he prefers not to perform anymore, but because of the personal content of the play, it made sense for him to do it.

Weitzman said he thought the shows went over well.

“I think people found it both humorous and compelling,” he said. “I don’t think it will be necessarily taken as offensive or anything like that.”

Senior Chase Storbeck said the play was moving and seemed very personal.

“I liked the intimacy of it,” he said. “It took something everyone could relate to and put a personal view on it.”

Bloomington resident Doriet Berkowitz said she thought Weitzman told his story well.

“It was a reading, but he was performing it quite well,” she said.

Berkowitz said she thinks the play brought up the question of a play’s use.

“The play was an offering for his child,” she said. “And it’s a way to make us think of what our immediate problems are and what also happens when we leave the theater.”