“Faraway, So Close”
This East Indian fable, with dance and music, is written by
Avantika Shankar and directed and choreographed by Anita Menon and Sarah Jane
Hardy (Artistic Director for NWCT), with fight choreography by Kristen Mun and
composer/sound design by Rodolfo Ortega.
It is playing at their space, 1819 NW Everett St. (parking is a bear in
this area, so plan your time accordingly), through February 25th. For more information, go to their site at www.nwcts.com or call 503-222-2190.
“Once Upon a Time…and They Lived Happily Ever After,”
bookends for amazing adventures of Yesterdays, Tomorrows and Forever
mores. In-between is the “stuff dreams
are made on.” This is a tale of today, especially,
for every girl who seeks equal status with male counterparts, and just to be
accepted for who they are, not for
anybody’s else’s image of who they should
be. This is a morality lesson from the
Ages that echoes loudly to future generations!
Royalty in this kingdom was expected to be passed down to
male heirs to rule. But this King (Heath
Hyun Houghton) has been favored by the gods with a girl instead, Chitra (Alisha
Menon, also dance captain), and so she is, quite appropriately, a girl prince. This means she must, unfairly, fight harder
to prove herself worthy in the eyes of their subjects and, especially, the
other soldiers. Particular defiance
comes from the Captain of them, Raje (Avish Menon), who thwarts her every
chance he gets.
Their mettle will be tested when some of the peasants revolt
and they become outlaws, led by their Bandit King (Zero Feeney, also fight
captain). But all is not so simple in
this yarn from many moons ago. Chitra is
beginning to feel the yearnings of a young woman, to have a husband and a
family. And so, as in all good fairy
tales, she meets an exiled prince in the forest one day, Arjun (Ken Yoshikawa),
and the story includes a romance. This
whole affair is related to us by means of two gods, the fey, Madan (Houghton,
again) and his counterpart, the matronly, Vasand (Sudipta Majumdar). To experience the outcome, you’ll just have
to see it for ourselves.
But the outstanding aspects of this production are in the
presentation: The amazing, colorful
costumes by Mary Eggers; the very versatile and vibrant set and props by John
Ellingson; the expressive lighting by Carl Faber; the marvelous video
projections by Andrés Alcalá; Ortega’s music, and sound (w/Jake Newcomb); and
the award-winning, Mun’s, extraordinary fight scenes, which are stunning!
And I can’t say enough good things about the dancing (Hardy
& Menon), as well as directing, both responsible for last season’s
excellent “Jungle Book,” too. When it
comes to choreography for a musical, I believe Hardy and her team take top
honors in theatre for the North West for that!
And the dancers are worthy of a mention, too (too numerous to name), so
kudos to the Soldiers, Bandits and Opening/Closing dancers, as well.
Alisha Menon, in the title role, is a lovely young lady, who
knocks it out of the park with her dance/fight scenes, as well as her strength
of character of succeeding in making all of her dreams come true. And, in the comic department, Houghton, as
Madan, steals the show with his comedic timing, energy and flitting about the
stage, like a bee pollinating the atmosphere with laughter. An exceptional cast of performers who must be
exhausted to the bone after a performance.
I highly recommend this show, especially for the
dancing.
If you do choose to see it,
please tell them Dennis sent you.
--DJS
No comments:
Post a Comment