Classics and Family Theatre

“Credit: Johanna Austin, AustinArt.org“

I’m pretty sure I’ve said this before, but I absolutely love family theatre.  It’s what started my love of theatre, and there’s very little I love more than seeing it.  Family theatre is fun and whimsical and magical.  Seeing kids in theatres, excited to see shows, makes me extremely happy.  Part of the problem is that there isn’t a ton of it being produced, at least in this area.  Because of this, I was so excited to hear the Wilma was mounting their first ever family show, The Snow Queen.  I can’t think of a better way to possibly start off their season!

The Snow Queen is based on Hans Christian Anderson’s tale, though obviously the Wilma took a lot of liberties.  And let me tell you, what they did with it was phenomenal.  Anderson’s work may be known and iconic, but the Wilma made his age old story accessible.  In all fairness, that’s what family theatre is about these days.  Kids need to be able to connect with what they’re watching.  They need to see familiar things on stage.  That’s what I loved about this production.  It was a really nice mashup of classical elements and modern elements, and all of it flowed together really nicely.

Okay, so I have to admit, it’s been awhile since I read the original story.  I had to skim Wikipedia a bit both before and after the show, just to have some idea of the roots of the play and the adaptations that were made.  I’m going to go back to how good a job the Wilma did with combining classical and modern elements in this production.  If Wikipedia served me right, I can definitely say that the Wilma’s The Snow Queen had enough in common with the original for it to be a true adaptation…while including cell phones and video games.  This was something so cool, because it was something new, and something old.  It was something fresh.

I loved pretty much everything about this show, and there was so much magic in it, that it’s hard to find the right place to start.  So I think what I’m going to do is start with my favorite part…the character of the Storyteller.  If you look at most plays in the vein of The Snow Queen, the part of the Storyteller is extremely important, but a bit detached.  They’re on the outskirts, and don’t do too much interacting.  But in this play, the Storyteller was an actual character, who had relationships with the characters.  There was something really amazing about that, and as a storyteller myself, I appreciated it whole heartedly.

Everything about this play was fun.  There were singing woodland creatures (and an accordionist!)  The costumes were absolutely mind blowing and awesomely enough, some incorporated puppetry.  The sets weren’t super over the top, but we could clearly see all the different places these characters were a part of.  It was truly, wonderfully done, and just perfect for a family show.  There were scary places, there were fun places…it all fit The Snow Queen, and made for a really fun play, and also a really fun piece of art.

But it wasn’t just fun.  The Snow Queen also had the proper amount of fairytale fright.  When you look at most fairytales, they’re very dark, and there’s a lot to be afraid of.  This show didn’t necessarily shy away from that, but they did take it down a few notches.  I can see how some of it could be scary for kids, but honestly, I think there are scarier things that they can see on the TV every day.  Even the scarier parts were very tastefully done, and I don’t think any of it couldn’t be discussed after the show.  For the two hour show (with one intermission), I was really impressed with all of the kids that seemed to sit through it like pros.

The actors all embodied every aspect of the show, too.  They all portrayed amazing characters, especially the actors that played multiple roles.  I loved watching these actors on stage…I’ve seen most of them on stage before, but I seriously felt transported…which I would assume is exactly what they want.  This world is an entirely different world from the one we live in.  It’s an entirely different world from your typical fairytale.  The actors really took that phenomena of a hazy, in between world and made something out of it.

Maybe opening the season with a family show was a bold move, but the Wilma did it flawlessly.  The Snow Queen is truly a show that all ages can enjoy.  We laughed, we gasped, we were in complete awe.  I think all of this is the magic of family theatre.  There were people of all ages in that audience, and I’m sure every single one of them took something away from this show.  I really loved this show…and I really hope it inspires a lot of kids to become a part of theatre the way my early family shows did for me.