by Charlotte Chorpenning
based on a story by James Thurber
1 hour long children's play
directed by Vivian Fusillo
A Princess is ill , and only her heart's desire will make her well. The three wisest men in the kingdom can't fulfill her heart's desire, but the simple Jester can.
It's so hard to speak ill of anything directed by Vivian, one of my favorite instructors and directors of all time, but this play just fell flat -- it did not keep the interest of the kids in the audience.
There is a nice story in there, but it got lost somehow. Fifth graders were commenting that it was hard to follow, so I can only imagine what the younger grades thought.
I'm not sure if it was the staging or the iritating, incessant music that followed each character on, but the story was lost. It was never absolutely clear that the Jester was smarter than the three wise men in figuring out how to please the Princess. And the Jester was wiser because he would simply ask the Princess rather than trying to decide what she might want.
Instead, this became a play about silly walks and leaps, constant sound, and affected speech, none of which had anything to do with the actual story.
The problem, I think, is that there was no build to the story. Everything was at one pace -- so much so that when we should have been listening to the coniving and plotting, we weren't (which is why it was hard for the 5th graders to follow) -- so much so that the ending swept in so quickly that we didn't know it was done until the cast started to bow.
Oh how my heart aches to see a Vivian play not be a remarkable work of art. The costumes, the set, the leaping and silly walks, the affected speech, are all trademarks of a fantastical Vivian show, but I've always thought she new how to pace well, too.
Not a recommended play.
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