Stairway to the imagination

THE LONG SUMMER break is on and Bangkok Community Theatre is getting ready to entertain all members of the family with its new adaptation of “Jack and the Beanstalk”.

Bonnie Zellerbach, who for years has been in front and behind the scenes of Bangkok’s longest-running English-language theatre company, wrote the script and is working with a multi-national cast. 

“There are several different versions of ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ and my version is unlike all of them,” she says. “In most versions, there is no explanation as to why Jack thinks it is a good idea to break into the Giant’s castle and steal his harp, goose and gold. Is it okay to steal from the Giant just because he’s a Giant? I didn’t like that message and so in my version, Jack is righting a wrong by retrieving items that the Giant stole many years ago.

“And I’m not much into bloodlust, so I saw no need for Jack to slay the giant. In this version, Jack just chops down the beanstalk to keep the giant at bay; he doesn’t kill him,” she says. 

Promising “magic and mime, mischief and mayhem”, the unique storyline also features a Fairy, a Princess and a Mime. “One of the six characters in the play is Sasha the Mime who ... never utters a word but steals scene after scene as he plays doors, windows, a royal herald, Daisy the Cow and the Beanstalk. He works with the Fairy and the audience to create various magical effects including the beanstalk that leads to the Giant’s castle. There are several chase scenes, which cause all sorts of planned mayhem during the play. And since the actors can’t predict exactly how the audience participation will pan out, there will likely be a fair share of unplanned mayhem as well.

“Every show will be different depending on the way the children in the audience contribute to the story: the children will likely be the ones providing the mischief, especially when they play a mischief of mice to help rescue Jack!”

Did we just hear the fun words “audience participation”? 

Zellerbach explains, “The show is staged as theatre-in-the-round with the audience seated on the stage floor on all four sides. The audience is part of the action. The hotel function room is a perfect venue for this type of play because it allows the story to unfold in and around the audience. We’ll mark the central stage area and aisles with coloured tape to define the main playing area, but really anything goes!”

Zellerbach gives credit to American playwright Moses Goldberg, saying, “He wrote the first four fairy tale-participation plays I staged for BCT and I’ve been copying his very clever concept ever since. The play begins with a short prologue that introduces the children to the conventions of theatre and ‘teaches’ them about the opportunity to use their imagination and to participate in the action. I think it’s a wonderful way to expose young children to the joy of live theatre. I want them to love their experience at ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ so that they will grow up to be supporters of theatre on and offstage in their adult lives.

“The show is only an hour long – in keeping with the attention span of the youngest audience members – but it is augmented by a pre-show craft session, from 12.30 to 4pm. Volunteers from Bangkok Patana School will help the children make simple crafts that they will then use to participate in the action of the play. Plus, the hotel’s ‘Dine and Swim’ package provides the use of their pool, towels and changing room so families can make a whole day of it if they want.”

Four of Zellerbach’s six performers are making their BCT debuts and all are “experienced stage performers” and bring a wealth of all-singing, all-dancing theatrical skills to the production. Peevara Kitchumnongpan plays Jack; Anette Andersen is the Princess; Priya Thomson has the dual role of Jack’s mother and the Giantess; Peter Assimakopoulos stars as Sasha the Mime; Gemma Salmon as the Fairy, and Paul Robere as both the King and the Giant.

 

 FULL OF BEANS

“Jack and the Beanstalk” will be performed at 1.30pm and 4pm on May 23 and 24 and May 30 and 31 at the DoubleTree by Hilton on Sukhumvit Soi 26.

Tickets are Bt220. Call (02) 649 6730 or e-mail [email protected]. For more, call (081) 741 0703 or visit www.BangkokCommunityTheatre.com.