Circuses: Brown Lake

Imagine a circus being performed in an operating amphitheater. It seems a bit clinical, but that's more or less what has been happening since the Great Moscow Circus arrived in Manhattan last week. Americans accustomed to the fanfaring, drum-rolling, three-ring mesmeric confusion of the P. T. Barnum tradition are asked to crowd in close and watch single acts performed in a small single ring. Whole tiers of the high seats at Madison Square Garden are deliberately left unsold. There is no parade. There are no spangled multitudes. There are no barkers, and...