A Night at the Theatre with Perfect Seasoning

Last night had been the Midwest premiere of Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s The Night Season, as performed by Vitalist Theatre.

I went in not knowing any information about it. Okay, I’m lying. I knew the set. And a few bits of “theatre magic” that would happen. Oh, also that Yeats factored in somehow, as per watching Sparrow’s (as always) stunning and intricate theatre entrance installation going up. But as for the plot and story… just what the poster teases.

Short review: Go. It’s a true delight. I know for sure that I will see it again. At least once.

This play truly has it all. You will laugh outright, feel a tear forming in your eye, have your heartstings tugged (both romantically and emotionally) and be swept away into the delicate and heavy lives of the characters.

In fact, the characters are what struck me first about this heartwarming tale. Right from the start it’s clear that the personas who play out their lives on stage are people you want to get to know. Wacky is not the right word. Lovingly and compellingly screwed up, perhaps?

The Night Season will carry you along the personal journeys of each member of an Irish family who take in a boarder. Each of them has a personal demon to exorcize. Each has a place they want to be in their lives which seems far beyond their reach. Luckily for us, these complex and wonderful characters are not beyond the reach of the actors. As can be expected from a Vitalist show, top notch performances come from each member of the cast.

The set and lighting are remarkable. With just a quick wash of color, or subtle but dazzling projections and some moving (folding, even) constructions, we are easily and convincingly transported from the Irish home to a beach to a library.

As you watch this play you will find it difficult to absorb all of its many layers, given how charming and tender the unfolding events can be. That’s meant as a compliment. And it will be a pleasure to revisit the story in order to pick up on the nuances. If not for the story itself, then for the marvelous personas that comprise it.

On the way home, Laughter, Bart and I found ourselves discussing various aspects of the play. That’s always a good sign, isn’t it? To be so very interested in exploring the depth of a story/show further? We wondered about the parts that were never fully explained. Don’t take that as a detrimental comment, for the incident we wondered about merely led to a deeper understanding of the story as a whole. There’s always room for the audience to bring its own food for thought to the table. And this one produces quite a feast. This Irish tale is no small potatoes. (Sorry, sorry, couldn’t stop myself.)

Vitalist Theatre’s The Night Season is everything a night at the theatre should be.
If you’re in the Chicago area, be sure and attend.

Information on the show's run can be found here.

But It’s Been Done Before?

How’s this for a story:

After the unruly children exhaust nanny after nanny, a mysterious "super nanny" with magical powers drops in… The children grow to love her fabulous shenanigans as well as learn to behave. When order and balance is restored to the household, the nanny leaves, allowing them to relish their new found joy.

No no, it’s a not a story I’m planning to write.

But what story did you imagine there? I’m guessing you were thinking “But this is Mary Poppins!”

Yes, my first thought as well. But it also applies to Nanny McPhee.

When that movie first came out, I hastily brushed it off as a repeat of Mary Poppins. Bart and some others went to see McPhee. (I had somewhere else to go, as I recall, and I had not been so keen on it anyway given my assessment.) Well, Bart and the others really enjoyed it. And although Bart (who is a fan of Poppins) had the same worry as me, he found himself pleasantly surprised and assured me that it had not been the same story all over again.

So, via the magic of TiVo, I finally got to see for myself. Yes, the premise is essentially the same. But it’s also true that it’s nowhere near the same tale. I’m not going to spell out all the differences or the plot of Nanny McPhee. You can do such compare and contrast yourself. For it’s quite a good movie.

The point, of course, is that it’s entirely possible to have a similar but different story. Just because a through-line is common does not mean adventures do not exist until themselves. Granted, it takes skill to accomplish, but that’s true of any story.

Thus, I’m very glad I’d been wrong with my quick judgment. Lesson learned. (<-- reference to Nanny McPhee, actually.)

Actually, the same thing happened with my first novel. No, not a nanny. I don’t expect anyone will ever see this novel of mine, unless I do an overhaul on it. Plus it needs a sub-adventure of the past put into it so as to support the framework of the overall story. I began the novel in high school and finished it, or so I recall, in my first year of college. (1989) Let me tell you the basic premise. See what else comes to mind…

A kid, who lives with his aunt and uncle (after his parents died in a car crash), finds out that he has been selected to attend a special school to learn the art of magic. There are wacky professors and some cool friends along the way…and he ultimately discovers that he’s the chosen one who can undo the great evil in the land.

How about that? The story you’re probably thinking of came out in 1997. Go figure. And despite a few eeriely specific coincidences between the two, they are like Poppins and McPhee -- an entirely different adventure.


* And yes, I do know that the television show The Nanny is neither one I spoke of... but I wanted to keep the surprise element via the text. Also, this show applies as well. For in a rough sense, it's a reworking of The Sound of Music.

Smashing Review!

I have already mentioned, or you may have noticed a certain "Anonymous" whose commentary has been a great asset to this site. I always look forward to the insights and information given by the mysterious Barrie and Pan fan.

Well, Anonymous has gone one step further. Thank you, Anon, for your wonderful review on Amazon. I'm glad my novel made you so happy.

Anon's review is here.

Thanks again!

Please allow me to address the issues raised within the review.

Yes, the many characters result from presenting an entire thriving world. The Pans are the main focus of this novel. It has been the plan to further develop the other characters in future adventures.

Regarding certain characters still being alive:

There are a number of reasons for my including them. If one checks back with Barrie, it’s unclear as to whether or not the Neverland halts the aging process while on its shores. Certainly the promise of not growing up there is part of popular culture. But since I’m all about adhering to Barrie, I examined closer when I began the novel.

Barrie wove the timeline of the events into actual history. It would not otherwise be possible for Captain Hook (for instance) to still be around when the Darling children arrived. Thus, it's only logical that some "magic" is preserving them.

When referring to the Lost Boys, the actual text of Peter and Wendy says “seem to be growing up.” Seem – a very ambiguous word. And since Peter’s perception and assessment is being spoken of in that passage, it’s prone to his faulty judgments.

Barrie describes Peter Pan having an affect on the mood of the Neverland. So Peter also belongs to the Fisher King archetype. It’s entirely possible that his own magic of eternal youth infects the island.

In theory, the other inhabitants of the island must always be there for other children to discover and play with/agaisnt, as Pan stories are passed down through generations in the world of Barrie. Death is, of course, also a reality in the Neverland. Children past Wendy, John and Michael Darling cannot have the terrible joy of fighting Hook. But fortunately, new adventures crop up all the time.

The way I see it, it’s a choice, or an event perhaps (such as the enticement of the mainland instead), that changes the stakes and makes one grow up. Peter Pan is the only one who chooses to remain a child.

There are other reasons for the eternal youth/life of the inhabitants, but I'll leave you to discover those within the pages of Peter Pan’s NeverWorld.

Thus, I’m pleased to be able to go along with the popular notion of “never grow up in the Neverland” via support from the actual words of Barrie.

Thanks for reading!

* The "Anon" image used is cropped from the first page of the first draft of Peter Pan dated November 23, 1903. The full page can be found on the amazing page of Barrie guru Andrew Birkin. The link is in the sidebar.

Didn't I Already Say...?

The posts of the last two days brought to mind two previous posts.

The note regarding the "As Retold By Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson"
is not unlike the post A Rose By Any Other?
Sad that it would "come true" this way.

And yesterday I said I've been thinking about other Peter Pan adventures to be done.
Well, here's proof (not that anyone needed it): Pan Inspires Me YET AGAIN...

Let's hope that all writing involved turns out well, eh?

Thanks for the Happy Thoughts, Pan Fans!

I'd like to express my gratitude to all of those who have been pondering about Peter Pan and the "world" of Sir J.M. Barrie to me lately. A special thanks to Hook & Jill author Andrea Jones (with whom I've been discussing quite a bit) and also to my faithful reader 'Anonymous' (who has the most wonderful insights.)

It's been quite a pleasure for me, getting me "back," as it were, into the magic of Barrie. Other than presenting Peter Pan's NeverWorld, my own written worlds have been taking up my time. But the exchanges have me looking back through the play & other works, thinking too hard over the particulars and playing with Pan in general. It's brought me not only the joy of returning, but has been refreshing my memory. It seems I'd been away from the Neverland too long. (Or else I resemble Pan too much.)

It has another benefit, too. Even before I read Hook & Jill I've been hearing from Peter Pan, Denny and some other characters - expanding on the ideas I'd had in place for future stories. It's been great. I just might have to fly back to NeverWorld soon... ...but other characters in other stories await me as well! (Glad to have this 'problem.')

Thanks for caring and sharing!

Did Someone Leave the Window Open?

Just to keep you informed of Peter Pan showing up...

Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson are putting out a re-telling of the story.

All I have to say is: Are they going to retcon themselves?

The illustrations are from Mary Blair's illustrations created for the animated movie while in production. Could be worth it for those if Disney Pan is your thing, but I bet the illustrations are on the deluxe DVD.

Heads up, this book flies October 13, 2009.

A Million Thanks for Millicent...

Note: This post contains a spoiler of the 2003 movie.

In my review of P.J. Hogan’s film of Peter Pan, I express great pleasure at the added character of Aunt Millicent. She’s a revision, actually, of the maid Liza in the original play and the novel. I’ve already explained the brilliance of Hogan’s tweak in the post, see there for more.

There's another reason that Aunt Millicent is terrific.
She’s the solution to something Barrie had never been able to work out.

Anyone heard of the “Beautiful Mothers Scene" that used to be in the play? [Barrie constantly made changes up to and including opening night and beyond, as well as each year.] I know Andrea Jones (author of Hook & Jill) has… but for those of you who haven’t: It takes place when the Darlings return and the Lost Boys come with them. What happens now, of course, is that the Darlings adopt the rest of the boys. What Barrie initially tried to do is match up a “new” mother for each boy. I put “new” in quotes because it varied. In some incarnations of this scene, a group of lovely young ladies just shows up on a gut level, aching and yearning to be a mother and sensing boys who need a home. In another, Wendy has Peter Pan go out and search for each of the boys’ true mothers, bring them to the Nursery to claim them and return them home. If I recall right, in another there’s a sort of ad placed. But as charming and heart-warming as this idea (in any form) is, it just doesn’t blend in quite right -- and Barrie knew it, for he settled on the Darling adoption.

That’s where Aunt Millicent comes in…

Part of her reason for being there had been to take Wendy away from the Nursery, to have her under wing, to guide and mold her into adulthood. Obviously, it wouldn’t just have been for Wendy’s benefit (or detriment, depending on how one views it) but for Millicent’s as well. In subtext, she wanted to care for a child.

Cut now to the arrival of the Darlings with the Lost Boys. All of the boys are there - except one. Millicent looks on with tears of joy at the happy reunion. Again, her subtext shows through. Enter Slightly. He’d says he went to the wrong door, and so, arrived late…and now he didn’t have a mother. In an interesting and delightful use of fairy magic, Tinker Bell whispers and/or blows a kiss of sorts to Millicent. “Is your name…Slightly?” she asks. Slightly is amazed, of course. Millicent insists that she is his mother in a Barriesque moment.

Thus, this fascinating new character of Hogan’s also fulfills the Barrie-generated notion of a mother awaiting a boy with open arms, or finding a long lost child.

Hooray for Aunt Millicent. Brava, Lynn Redgrave for a magnificent performance.
Bravo to Hogan for working her in so seamlessly.