THE THEATER MIRROR, New England's LIVE
Theater Guide
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Reviewed by Will Stackman
The Boston Area doesn't
offer a tremendous number of live theatre
opportunities for young audiences. The Puddlejump
Players annual production is unique in scope and
provenance. The group is comprised of home-schooled
students from throughout the greater Boston area who
get together each year to create an original show
which reflects their diverse studies and shared
curriculum. This year's emphasis was Italy. Boasting
a cast of dozens, this year's extravaganza , subtitle
"Lost in Venice" was a modern fantasy set involving
runaways (ragazzi), young burglars, mysterious
nobility, and a detective named Solly Sangfroid
reminiscent of Insp. Clouseau with a touch of Holmes,
Poirot, and Miss Marple. Their serial dramaturgy
smacked a bit of Lemony Thicket, with touches from
other juvenile novels, with 21 scenes and at least 8
seperate sets, ranging from an abandoned movie
theatre(palazzi) to palazzos, a gondola in the pit,
and the usual racing up and down the aisles.
Everyone, including the
audience, was caught up in adventures of a big
brother and little sister, the rich kid, a rag-tag
crew of kid squatters, several villains, and lots of
extras. The cardboard scenery, quite well painted,
shifted about with abandon, if not accuracy. There was
even a theme song set to "Food, Glorious Food" not to
mention live music played from the floor downstage
left. This special sort of community theatre is worth
taking in every once in a while, if only to get
nostalgic over the sheer energy onstage, and to wonder
how they ever rehearsed so many kids doing so many
different things. So look for Puddlejump next spring
in May 2005. They're a fine antidote to getting
overly serious about real theatre.