A wonderful ‘Wizard of Oz’
The “Wizard of Oz” has been retold numerous times, from The Wiz to Wicked, but Director Tim Seib and the Festival 56 production crews have put a fresh, contemporary spin on the familiar fantasy. The production features the songs and dialogue from the beloved 1939 MGM classic, but this is no faithful homage to Judy Garland and company. Instead, Dorothy is an up-to-date teenage girl, complete with Chuck Taylors, Goth girl wristlets, and a backpack stocked with Ritalin. Alesia Lawson plays Dorothy as a sullen and rebellious teenager who I’m sure most parents will recognize (“my bad” is her response when the Wicked Witch asks who dropped the house on her sister). Yet Lawson also finds moments to show Dorothy is capable of caring very deeply.
Her traveling companions also bring new insights. Matthew Folsom plays the Scarecrow as happy-go-lucky — thoughtless, if not brainless — but portrays the Scarecrow’s Kansas counterpart Hunk, the farmhand, as an individual with a profound mental disability, perhaps autism. The shading this gives the character is most evident when the Scarecrow seems to morph into Hunk as he reacts to Dorothy’s exit from Oz. The Tin Man (Scott Lilly) dances up a storm (except when his joints get rusty), but his blithe energy masks the fact that he literally has been pieced back together, sans heart, from a personal tragedy (a brilliant make-up design emphasizes that the Tin Man literally has been split down the middle). Lauren Longyear puts a feminist spin on the Cowardly Lion, a woman trying to make it as the king of the forest (“not queen, not duke”).
We know we are not in Frank Baum’s Kansas when Dorothy meets up with Professor Marvel (Alexander Pawlawski) as a psychotic homeless man (complete with straitjacket). Talk about creating an ambivalent situation! Local Princeton kids play the Munchkins, whose costumes, based on basketry and kitchen utensils, put the “munch” into Munchkin. Amy Jo Jackson gives a sensual and scary performance as Glinda, the Witch of the North. Forget Billie Burke and her bubbles — think Tilda Swinton as the White Witch of Narnia, (Patrick Doolin is quietly hilarious as her faithful white ... husky? wolf? polar bear?). Jackson’s Aunt Em is a strong contrast, as grounded and strongly principled as Eleanor Roosevelt. Matt Scott’s performances as Uncle Henry and the Emerald City Guard are most reminiscent of MGM, but satisfying nonetheless.
As Almira Gulch and the Wicked Witch of the West, Jim Brigman steals the show. Brigman’s sardonic reactions to the limited “stagecraft” at the Witch’s disposal are hilarious — my favorite being the “Surrender Dorothy” sequence; there’s no sky-writing at the Grace, only a hastily hand-lettered sign: “Surender Droothy.” A brilliant design element links magical signs on the Witch’s robe to similar signs incorporated in the costuming of the various creatures sent by the Witch to thwart our heroes.
Many productions of the “Wizard of Oz” lurch from requisite scene to requisite scene, but this stripped-down production flows smoothly with little or no downtime. The clever use of simple props and lighting (pay attention to the parasols) gives a bigger return to this production than more elaborate stage mechanics ever could. In opening night’s post-show discussion, Director Seib talked about the requirement to “do better cheaper” in the small space of the Grace Theater. Forget better — this is one of the best productions I’ve enjoyed in recent years.
