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Disclaimer:
The reviewers' opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of TheatreLouisville.org. |
Peer Reviews A Peach of
a Production
My six-year-old companion's eyes nearly popped out of his head as we were led to our seats on opening night of Shelby County Community Theatre's production of James and the Giant Peach. "This," he declared, "is not gonna be just cool. It's gonna be cooler than cool!" As it turns out, he was right. What greeted us was a very long rectangular stage wondrously transformed into the garden where we first meet young James Henry Trotter, the hero of our story. Lea Waldridge has painted a set designed and constructed by Harold Kearney, and together they've worked magic. Vivid swathes of green on the floor for grass give way to a mural along the entire backdrop depicting the English countryside. Rolling hills slope down to white cliffs which give way to the wild blue yonder of the Atlantic. Two long steps at the back of the stage give actors a variety of levels on which to work and create the impression that if we were to walk forward and up, we could surely keep going right into the mural. To the right is a painted brick wall behind which several steps lead up to yet another level above the rest. Here we find the cottage, painted on the wall in bright yellow with whimsical accents, which James shares with his two horrid aunts at the play's beginning. Voilà, an entire fanciful and enticing world before our very eyes. What vision, and what talent on the part of Waldridge and Kearney!
Generations of young readers have flocked to the books of Roald Dahl; James and the Giant Peach, first published in 1961, was one of the earliest of his roughly two dozen works for children. James is typical of Dahl's protagonists: brave and clever children, often of humble origins, who triumph over unfortunate circumstances thanks to their strength of character and their ability to take rather curious magical happenings in stride. Beastly adults make these children's lives miserable, but readers young and old alike take an impish delight in watching these arrogant, stupid, cruel people get their comeuppance. In this production, Richard R. George's dramatization follows Dahl's text very closely. Three narrators (Katie Hundley, Brady Morgan, and Lauren Clark) take turns telling the story, moving the action along with focus and energy. Sent to live with his Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge after his parents (Jacob Alvey and Jaclyn Gonda) are tragically killed by an escaped rhinoceros(!), poor James (Jake Waford) leads a wretched existence. Sara Lauer and Alex Skellie garner lots of laughs as the outrageous Spiker and Sponge, respectively. In loud stripes, oversized sunglasses, and a gravity-defying hairdo, Lauer plays the shrill old bat to the hilt; no less comically self-centered is Skellie's Sponge, who, hair in curlers and wearing a garish muumuu, relaxes in the garden gobbling potato chips while James struggles to chop wood. When, by a magical turn of events brought about by an enigmatic old man (Sebastian Kearney), an enormous peach grows in the garden, James decides to explore and soon discovers a motley crew of characters living inside. The peach itself is a remarkable feat of set design reminiscent of a huge Chinese lantern covered with translucent parachute-like material. Before we meet its inhabitants, we see their shadows on the peach "skin" first, to mysterious and spectacular effect. Waford plays James much as I imagined the boy when I first made his acquaintance as a young reader: mild-mannered yet adventuresome; fair-minded and a good friend. Michael Sheehy's kindly Grasshopper takes the boy under his wing and introduces him to the eternally pessimistic but always hilarious Earthworm (Landen Bates), the sweet-tempered Ladybug (Rachel White), the elegant Spider (Olivia Martin), the sleepy Glowworm (Elizabeth Sames) and Silkworm (Jill Stella), and, lest we forget, the Centipede (Trey Paris), a showman if ever there was one. His preening 'tude had the audience in stitches as they beheld his unique Centipede-ly style. (Think purple shirt, jeans decorated with patches in geometric shapes and bejeweled safety pins, and a long string of varied and colorful baby shoes held in his hands and strung through a longish chain around his neck — ingenious!) The lively interchange between James and all of these principal characters is utterly delightful, and the colors, textures, and creative design of their costumes took my breath away. The peach rolls down the steep hill with James and his newfound companions inside (flattening Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge with two outrageous splats, even funnier if they had been a bit louder), and adventures abound. They soon find themselves in the Atlantic and must take on all manner of adversity in the form of sharks, hungry birds, and hailstorms. The children who play the Sharks and hail pelting Cloud Gals are well choreographed and move well in their groups. The peach survives the crossing, finally alighting atop the Empire State Building, and James and his friends become instant celebrities. Watching the show, I was reminded of a concept my sixth-grade drama teacher called "stage picture": If at any given moment we were to take a snapshot of the actors on stage, what would the composition of that snapshot look like? Would the actors be standing stiffly, lined up facing the audience like fence posts, or does the picture catch and hold one's interest, consisting of figures positioned at various levels (sitting, standing, crouching) and at various visual depths, clearly engaged in their interactions? It's no exaggeration to say that the stage picture is consistently excellent throughout this show. The gathering of actors inside the peach is never stale, as they sit and stand and move around on boxes painted to look like the pit of the fruit. Outside, the townspeople who congregate to see the fruit initially and later the sailors and passengers on a ship who glimpse it above the ocean make good use of space and interact in interesting groupings. Director Amanda Simmons has done a phenomenal job not only in instructing these young people in what to do on stage and how to do it, but in coming up with staging that's a pleasure to watch. One of the few problems I noted was that once the peach starts rolling, the lovely painted garden scenery is no longer relevant. It's not difficult to ignore it and to imagine the characters inside the peach out at sea, but perhaps it could have been better obscured with lighting effects. Also, at times, the actors are so excited by what they have to say that they throw away the ends of their lines. The dialogue is really too good to miss, though their youthful exuberance is refreshing. It must be noted that none of the actors in this cast is older than high school age, and many are much younger. How worthwhile it would have been to have had short bios of each of them in the program! Admittedly, with upwards of 60 young people on stage, not to mention those behind the scenes, this presents a challenge. But even just a line or two of where they go to school, how they came to be involved in theatre, etc., would have gone a long way toward giving the audience some background and giving the cast and crew the individual recognition they deserve. One group who does receive special mention in the program, and rightly so, is that of these young actors' parents. I can only imagine the magnitude of their patience and dedication to the unsung tasks of chauffeuring, waiting for, and practicing with their children, just to mention a few. Without them a production such as this one would simply not be possible. Each of the Sharks is listed in another group role as well; however, names sometimes appear spelled two different ways in the program. The bio of accomplished director Amanda Simmons contains several spelling errors as well ("Inheret" the Wind, "Pleadies" Theatre), and Roald Dahl's name is misspelled on the homepage of Shelby County Community Theatre's website. It seems that more attentive proofreading would be in order. But in general, this is a thoroughly charming and well executed production. Think again if you've ever thought quality theatre is the province of adults in the big city. These young actors in Shelby County have taken bold and promising steps toward what could be, if they so choose, a worthy long-term avocation or a serious career in the case of some. As we watch them, we're seeing not only a heartwarming show — we're catching a glimpse into the world of theatre yet-to-come. That's indeed magical, and certainly even cooler than cool.
James and the Giant Peach September 5, 6, 12 &13, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. Shelby County Community Theatre Tickets: (502) 633-0242 Posted Sept. 9, 2008
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