Puppetworks is currently performing what it calls an ‘authentic’ fairy tale, The Sleeping Beauty. The show, adapted by Nicolas Coppola from Charles Perrault’s 1697 tale, is accompanied by fairies, and Tchaikovsky’s lush ballet score. Kids used to Sleeping Beauty touching a spindle will be surprised when this heroine falls into a slumber after pricking her finger on a beautiful rose — but this is how the story was written.
This ‘Sleeping Beauty’ has many Puppetworks’ trademarks: silly jokes, comic figures, dancing. But this show is considerably darker than most of their productions; there was a high attrition rate during the show I saw, with several frightened, crying children carried from the theater. The show is recommended for ages 3 and up, but beware that the evil fairy, Wurtzel (also known as ‘the wonder fairy’) is larger than the other marionettes, and bright green; she will terrify a lot of very young kids. There is also a dragon, Draco, that the prince must slay.
Also, oddly enough, the title character is barely in the show. This is partly a function of the spare Puppetworks design; there are only two puppeteers, and only two or three characters can be on-stage at once. So when princess Aurora is born, she is hidden in a cradle. She makes a brief appearance in one scene more than halfway through the show, when she’s 16, to pluck the rose; then she falls into her 100-year sleep and is out of the action until the very end.
But there is plenty to keep a young theatergoer engaged. There are the comic fairy twins, Matilda and Brunhilda. Brunhilda is ‘the fairy of good grace’, yet she always winds up falling on her face. Pippin, Sleeping Beauty’s dog, talks to the princess in a funny, kid-pleasing dog-howl.
And if you stick around at the end, you can have some face time with Beauty herself. The marionette is brought in front of the stage for a hands-on meet and greet.
Puppetworks knows how to pull strings, both literally and figuratively. When Prince Alexander broke the spell and kissed the princess, the audience erupted into cheers. Good once again conquered evil.
Info:
Where: Puppetworks, 338 Sixth Ave., at 4th Street, Brooklyn
When: Shows are every Saturday and Sunday, 12:30pm and 2:30pm, through December 22. There are extra performances on Monday, October 7
Tickets: $7 adults, $6 children. Reservations suggested
For more info: Phone (718) 965-3391; www.puppetworks.org
Note: Starting January 4, 2003, the show is “The Prince and the Magic Flute”
