ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE: Young actors with grown-up tales. |
| Kitchen Table Fables: Lessons Learned in an Ant’s Kitchen written and directed by Reba Short | Produced by The Children’s Theatre of Maine | at the Children’s Museum of Maine, in Portland | through Dec 16 | 207.878.2774 |
In the ancient fable of the Ant and the Grasshopper, idle bohemianism does not pay. If you know your Aesop, you might recall winter falling hard on the free-wheeling Grasshopper (Ben Robinson), after he has spent the summer making music and irking the industrious Ant (Amara Young). Now the Grasshopper needs eats, and he isn’t getting any handouts from the Ant. That, at least, is the traditional end of the fable. But it gets some compassionate, colorful tweaking in Kitchen Table Fables: Lessons Learned in an Ant’s Kitchen, a must-see show performed by and for the young ones, written and directed by Reba Short for the Children’s Theatre of Maine. The Children’s Theatre, recently partnered with the Children’s Museum, stages this bright and well-paced kaleidoscope of fables in the museum’s cozy Dress-Up Theater. This new incarnation of CTM casts its shows entirely of kids, and the crackerjack cast of Kitchen Table Fables is terrific — practiced, smart, and exuberant. These young actors, ably directed and fantastically costumed by Short, weave a spirited romp of what the Ant learns from the other animals who enter her well-stocked kitchen.
These come to include the members of a traveling theatrical troupe, led by a sly and charming Cat (Nicole Hoehle), featuring the wily Fox (Sophia Emmons) and the diva Crow (Alysha Allings). The Cat also directs a tribe of excellent young Mice (in the performance I saw, Alexis Ewald, Annabelle Williams, Brooks Ewald, Annesley Black, and Schuyler Black, who alternate shows with a second tribe). Together, the ensemble enacts a series of classic fables: The Crow is flattered out of a delectable cheese wedge; the trembling Mice learn that showy army uniforms won’t keep the Cat at bay; the Fox acts out the curious cognitive dissonance of “sour grapes” when he desires but cannot reach them.
Between scenes, the Ant and the Grasshopper discuss the morals of the stories, learning together tale by tale. But there’s still a big lesson coming to the Ant. She has decided, after all, to share some dinner with the Grasshopper, but still balks at giving out anything to the actors. In time, and with a little help from the menagerie, the Ant learns to extend her goodwill to all in the animal citizenry.
What’s really great about this show’s big-heartedness is that it’s more entertaining than a barrel of monkeys. Good fun as well as good for you, Fables has snazz, charm, vivid personalities, and plenty of wit. Its actors have great theatrical instincts, have clearly worked hard, and come together with remarkable rapport. Amara Young lets her Ant evolve very convincingly, transforming her from a touchy and uptight creature to someone softer, and Ben Robinson’s loose, genial Grasshopper is engaging and a fine foil. As for the troupe, the little mice perform some tricky timing beautifully, and Schuyler Black makes a hilarious character role of the sleepy old Grandpa Mouse. Nicole Hoehle’s cat is sleek and knowing (and remarkably cat-like), while Sophia Emmons does a lovely, nimble job with the Fox. And Alysha Allings is drop-dead fabulous beyond her years as the feather-boaed, aging diva Crow — especially as she manically preens for her famous “Jackdaw solo.” Short’s sharp writing is delivered with such finesse by these young actors, with such energy and savvy, that this (childless) reviewer laughed out loud, and often.
