FAIRY TALE
nytheatre.com review by John Jordan
August 15, 2002
Fairy Tale, by Amadeo Riva: Once upon a time, Cinderella and Snow
White were at a bar, having many drinks, sharing a few laughs,
discussing how miserable their lives turned out to be. Cinderella is
pregnant…Prince Charming is not the father…he is now into bestiality.
Ms. White is wrongly accused of the murder of Happy the Dwarf and the
remaining six dwarves are out for revenge. The premise is great, but it
fades soon after the first scene. Cinderella’s dilemma is tied up too
quickly, and she disappears for too long. Most of the play is Snow
White’s trial, with drawn out repeats of what was funny the first time.
I had a difficult time trying to pinpoint the style, so I’ve come up
with this: it’s Monty Python does straight-to-video Disney. Poor
man’s slapstick. This wonderful world of dismal is funny at times, but when the cast wished upon a star, they should have wished for more direction and a tighter script. M. Stuart Wallace does an adequate job of staging the piece, however, the problem is the pace. Directorial tweaking could definitely turn this show into something more than an attempt. The script can also do with a visit to Mr. Scissors.
There are two exceptional performances: Joe Brooke as Insomnia (ex-Sleepy), who plays stoned way too believably, man, and Peter Scanavino as both Valerino (bar owner) and the Bailiff. The contrast between Scanavino’s characters is incredible; both are top notch. Lisa Louttit as Snow White and Robyn Simpson as Cinderella are appropriately enchanting. Daisuke Ishiguro as Bashful induces roars of laughter without actually saying much, which is always commendable. Assaf Ben-Shetrit, in the ever-popular role of Dopey, is also quite funny. Rounding out the merry cast are Ivo Canelas, Harace Carpenter, Paulo de Sousa, Yasu Ikeda, Lukas Loughran, Amadeo Riva and Marcel Simoneau.
The stage crew of mice is a great gimmick. Suggestion: choreography. The costumes by Barbara Abbatemaggio and Jacob Daschek are exceptional. Six grown men very believably play six dwarves. Kudos. The upstage backdrop by Alexander “Sasha” Polyakov is fantastic. Sick, but fantastic. The End.
