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Andy's
451 Is A Masterpiece
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Kerri
Kanelos
August
25th 2003 |
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For those who
regularly read my reviews of local entertainment
and art, it will come as no surprise that
Andy's Summer Playhouse in Wilton, New Hampshire
has yet again raised the bar for excellence
in children's theatre. In fact, their last
show of the season, 451, a musical
adaptation of Ray Bradbury's classic Fahrenheit
451, is far more creative and entertaining
than any theatre production, on any level,
that I have seen in years. This piece was
written, composed and directed by Bob Lawson,
the theatre's Artistic Director and includes
a live band, incredible set design, creative
costuming, original songs and more importantly,
an extraordinary cast of actors.
For those unfamiliar
with the story behind Fahrenheit 451,
I highly recommend reading the novel before
seeing Andy's version in order to fully understand
the performance. Set in the 24th century,
firefighters are now paid to set books on
fire because they make people think too much.
Instead of spending their free time philosophizing
and reading, people are now so sedated by
tranquilizers that they waste away in front
of their "wall screens" watching
their "cousins" and "family"
entertain them on the television. The government
has extreme control over the level of censorship
in every day society.
Montag (Ethan
Selby), the main character of the piece, enjoys
his job as a firefighter but soon becomes
curious about the books that he confiscates
during raids. The story progresses as Montag
meets others, including a young woman named
Clarisse (Kate Cochran) and her family, who
are involved in the illegal underground culture
of reading and book collecting. His curiosity
eventually grabs hold over Montag's life as
he becomes obsessed with saving the very books
that he is hired to burn.
Although every
member of this cast sang and acted very well,
I was particularly taken with the work of
three outstanding female leads. Allegra Gilfenbaum,
who played Montag's superior Captain Beatty,
has a great voice and portrayed an excellent
version of the novel's sneering antagonist.
Kara Maloney, who played Montag's sedated
and overly depressed wife Linda, had some
striking solos during the performance. The
audience and myself were completely blown
away by Katie Rolph, a young actress who belted
out the songs beautifully as The Woman Who
Burns. All three of these performers have
very promising futures in the fields of theatre
and music.
While directors
cast actors into the ensembles who are not
as vocally inclined as the main characters,
I found that every actor in 451 had
incredible acting and vocal skills. What I
found most incredible of all is that fact
that most actors in 451 are under the
age of 16. Before seeing this performance,
I was skeptical of the young cast's ability
to pull off a musical version of such an intellectually
involved novel. However, the young cast did
such an incredible job with 451 that
I cannot think of another demographic of actors
that could outdo this version of the performance.
The set design
and costuming for 451 is stunning and
brings the piece together very well. The set,
which consists of a six scrim covered boxes
for variations in settings, allows the audience
to watch all characters at the same time.
Actors weaved in and out of each box as they
changed locations and scenes in a very fluid
manner. The costuming is a mixture of black
Victorian dress and German clothing with an
overall Asian theme. Designers put incredible
detail and creative thought into how the firemen
"burn" the books. Set designers
obviously spend a great deal of time sewing
bright red cloth into each book so cast members
could "pull" a flame out of the
burned books. Designers also used the same
material during a murder scene-the blood red
jagged pieces of cloth appeared to pour out
of Captain Beatty's body as she is murdered
towards the end of the performance. The live
band (Duncan Pelletier, Adrian Prohaska, Erik
White, DJ Potter and Bob Lawson) added an
extra dimension not normally found in local
theatrical productions.
Unfortunately,
451 and other performances at Andy's
only run for a two-week period and 451's
closing night was on August 23rd. I feel strongly
that this outstanding performance should travel
to other locations throughout New England;
or at the very least, the cast should return
to Andy's during the school year to give repeat
performances for local schools that are studying
Bradbury's classic. I truly enjoyed this performance.
Andy's Playhouse
is a small theatre located in the town Wilton,
New Hampshire. Named after C.W. Anderson,
the wildly popular children's author of such
horse books as Blaze and Thunderbolt,
Andy's began over thirty years ago in the
neighboring down of Mason. In the late 1980s,
Andy's acquired the former Wilton town hall
and began all operations out of that location.
As their website states, "Andy's programs
foster creative collaborations between children
and professional artists who work in a variety
of media: performance art, theater, dance,
music, puppetry, video, set and lighting design
and playwriting."
For more information
about Andy's Summer Playhouse, visit their
website at www.andyssummerplayhouse.org.
This article was previously
published on www.lovethyjob.com |
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