Huck Finn (2006)
We watched our children go beyond whatever we imagined they could do.
By Marie Roux
Take a stage teeming with nearly a hundred young actors clad in white or black, original music performed onstage, beautiful lighting and minimalist but accurate sets and props, mix with the enthusiasm and talent triggered and organized by Paddy Salmon, and there you are at the Play, vintage 2006.
The script, based on Mark Twain’s novel Huckleberry Finn, was written eleven years ago by a well-known SIS teacher, Petra Montel. It had been a success at the time, and was maybe even more so this year. « Un bijou » announced Anne Potonnier in her introductory speech, and the final applause proved her right.
One stroke of genius was the decision to design costumes in black and white only, creating a strong aesthetic and philosophical statement: the roles, male or female, black or white, were open to all, the differences marked only by the color of the actors’ costumes.
As the whole story is about tolerance and individual freedom, it was particularly appropriate to further push racial and gender barriers when casting actors.
Two boys played Huck’s role (too long for one actor), and each gave a different depth to the character: light as a bird for the first; whimsical and resourceful for the second. Jim, the runaway slave, stole the show, dancing and prancing about - in turn witty, frightened and protective of the young urchin he has taken under his wing.
Superb scenes will be remembered: a Shakespeare performance in front of a jeering crowd of rural Southerners- it was a treat to hear these well-educated young people from several English-speaking countries drawl the vernacular of the old South! - Huck deciphering the Constitution under the glaring eye of his father, a British dandy doing tricks with his cane, and of course, the musical interludes... The music was a happy mix of songs written for the play and talented reinterpretations of old blues classics.
Once again, with these four wonderful performances, we watched our children go beyond whatever we imagined they could do.
Dernière modification le 20-06-06 par
