DAN'S PAPERS, March 7, 2008 Page 49 www.danshamptons.com
Child’s Play Replacing the original role of a brother with a sister was an edgy choice. A promising idea until the father character told the sons, “You have to take care of her, she’s a girl.” Any hopes of a strong female character were dashed. What is this? 1956? In a later plot twist, the sister turns out to be the smart, strong one, saving the boys. Now it felt like a forced anecdote, preached to the converted at a ‘70s feminist rally. The original source material for the play was a simple story that was turned into a staged musical – not an unusual evolution. But in this production, only one song was original. The rest were ‘60s pop tunes. What was worse, the entire play was lip-synched – not just the songs, but the dialogue too. From start to finish, it was all on a track. Why not just play a DVD? You may be wondering why I’m doing a theater review in a parenting column. Well, it was a children’s play. In fact, a puppet show – a redux of “The Three Little Pigs,” presented a few weeks ago at the Parrish. That’s right. I’m reviewing a 20-minute puppet show. Okay, maybe I’m over thinking the experience. In fact, maybe it’s really pathetic for a grown woman to do a dramatic analysis of a puppet show. I can’t help myself. I’m an adult with expectations and standards – in addition to being a parent who wants her son to have a great theatrical experience that will spark his creativity in the long and short term. And, time for full disclosure, I’m also a trained musician, songwriter and produced playwright. So yes, maybe I do bring a tad too much to the table for children’s theater. For the record, I’m not insisting that every puppet show have the production values of a Disney mega-musical. In fact, just as with adult theater, neither the price of admission, the size of the stage nor the size of the cast has anything to do with the quality of the experience. I’m not a snob about venue – I just want it to be good: engaging, even enlightening, well done and inspirational. And I want my son to have that experience every time he goes to the theatre. And he goes a lot. My partner and I have taken him, from the age of one, to everything: Liz Joyce’s original, often eccentric productions at Goat on a Boat in Sag Harbor; community theater musicals in Jersey starring his grandmother, a former Copa girl; children’s theater at Bay Street, CMEE and West Hampton Beach Performing Arts Center. When he was 3, I schlepped him to Broadway to see Beauty and the Beast. And a few months ago he saw his first opera at the Met, Hansel and Gretel. When my partner joins us on these excursions, I’m instructed to bite my lip – to keep my adult experience to myself. But in addition to wanting his creativity jumpstarted, I want him to grow up with not just an appreciation of the arts, but the ability to distinguish between the good and the great performance; the singer who phones it in and the one who’s in the moment; the story line that’s smart and the one that’s contrived So I egg him on a little, “Did you like the clown’s voice? I thought it was a little squeaky.” “Did the show feel long to you?” Once, during a performance of the Russian Children’s Circus (an unending hour of spinning and ball rolling to extremely loud music) he asked “Is it over?” Hoping he had become more “discerning” (and wanting to walk out myself) I answered, “Would you like it to be?” No. He didn’t. Or wouldn’t admit it. In fact, he’ll sit through it
all, finding even the tiniest element to catch his interest. As he did at the pig production. He liked the wolf ’s fangs. And the sound of the male singer who recorded the wolf ’s song. But, with little goading, he offered up a critique: It was too short. Afterward, outside the Parrish, he introduced
himself to another little boy and they chased each other around, laughing – my son pretending to be the big bad wolf. I had arrived at my next parenting lesson. When you really want your child to have an experience that sparks his creativity and imagination, remember: the play’s the thing.
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