The Miss Firecracker Contest by Beth Henley
"The Miss Firecracker Contest" is a play by Beth Henley set in the small Southern town of Delmont, Mississippi, centering around the annual beauty pageant held every Fourth of July. The story follows Carnelle Scott, a contestant who aspires to win the title of Miss Firecracker, a title previously held by her beautiful cousin, Elain. As Carnelle prepares for the contest, she faces complex family dynamics, including the return of her cousins, Elain and Delmount, who come back to settle matters after the death of their aunt. Delmount, just released from a mental institution, has a troubled past, while Elain seeks refuge after leaving her husband.
Carnelle grapples with her personal history, often referred to as "Miss Hot Tamales" due to her tumultuous romantic life. The play introduces Popeye, a young seamstress who supports Carnelle, and Mac Sam, a balloon salesman with a complicated history with her. The tension builds as the pageant approaches, filled with humorous and poignant moments that reveal deeper themes of love, acceptance, and personal redemption. Despite facing numerous challenges during the contest, including a disastrous performance, the play concludes with a sense of community and connection, emphasizing the importance of love and reconciliation as Carnelle embraces her future.
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The Miss Firecracker Contest by Beth Henley
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition
First produced: 1980 (first published, 1985)
Type of work: Play
The Work
As are most of Henley’s works, this play is set in a small southern town. In Delmont, Mississippi, a beauty pageant, the Miss Firecracker contest, is held every Fourth of July. Carnelle Scott is a contestant in this year’s pagent, in which two of her cousins are also involved. The cousins have actually assembled because the aunt who raised Carnelle has died, and her two children, Carnelle’s cousins Elain and Delmount, have returned home to settle matters. The house has been left to Delmount, who has just been released from a mental institution.
In addition to violent behavior, Delmount is guilty of statutory rape, years ago, of some young girls. Elain is seeking asylum because she has just left her husband. Carnelle realizes that she will have to vacate the family home, but not before she leaves town in a blaze of glory as Miss Firecracker, a title won some years before by her beautiful cousin Elain.
While death or attempted murder might drive the conflicts in previous Henley plays, the tension here is in the preparations for the big pageant. The audience learns that neither Elain nor Delmount feels Carnelle has a chance, in part because of her previous habit of having casual sex with so many men, apparently seeking love because she was abandoned by her father after her mother’s death. Indeed, the local name for Carnelle is not Miss Firecracker but Miss Hot Tamales.
Two other characters soon appear: Popeye, the young seamstress who aids Carnelle with her costumes, and Mac Sam, the man selling balloons at the pageant. It is revealed that Mac Sam is a former lover of Carnelle. He now is dying of several illnesses, including a venereal disease Carnelle transmitted to him. (She is now cured.) To add to the complications, Popeye falls in love with Delmount, and the stage manager of the pageant turns out to be one of the women Delmount raped years ago.
At the contest, everything goes wrong, from a poorly altered costume to the audience yelling insults at Carnelle. The ultimate disappointment is that Carnelle finishes last, but as in most of Henley’s work, love carries the day. Elain returns to her husband. Mac Sam declares his undying devotion to Carnelle, and Delmount receives indications of devotion from two women. The play ends in delight and companionship, with Carnelle, now reconciled to leaving town, watching the Independence Day fireworks.
Bibliography
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Cohen, Phillip C., and Colby H. Kullman, eds. Speaking on Stage: Interviews withContemporary American Playwrights. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1996.
Craig, Carolyn Casey. Women Pulitzer Prize Playwrights: Biographical Profiles andAnalyses of the Plays. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2004.
Holloday, Hilary. Contemporary Poets, Dramatists, Essayists, and Novelists of the South. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1994.
Keyssar, Helen. Feminist Theatre. London: Macmillan, 1984.
Plunka, Gene A. The Plays of Beth Henley: A Critical Study. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2005.
Robinson, Alice M., Vera Roberts, and Milly S. Barranger. Notable Women in the American Theatre: A Biographical Dictionary. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1989.