Open Circle Tells A Story Through Mime and Sign
Open Circle Theater's production of "Story Theatre" easily whisks you back to the times right before bed when your mother was reading a book to you, or cozy hours in the library on a rug with the other little kids, hearing about the boy who cried wolf. The trouble with the production is it doesn't add any newness to those familiar, comfortable tales, making the production a slam dunk for kids, but one that won't capture the heart of adults so easily.
Open Circle, whose productions are both catered to and featuring the talents of the disabled, is staging Paul Sills' reworking of ten tales from the Brothers Grimm and Aesop adapted for the stage. The sing-song nature of the delivery of the stories is often reminiscent of the parable scenes in Godspell, relying heavily on pantomine and clowning.
Directors Suzanne Richard and Ian Armstrong have done an admirable job integrating sign language into the work, particularly in their choice of having actors fluidly exchange roles, with up to four people taking on the same character, and signers and speakers swapping spots with ease.
The production is set upon a vague, post-disaster backtrop which is almost clumsily contemporary. Shows such as Rorschach Theater's Myth Appropriations have done a far better job modernizing fables with relevance that doesn't feel so forced.
Some tales do a better job at transporting than others - particularly entertaining is the company's rendition of "The Master Thief," starring the facile Lori Boyd as the wily criminal in question, the versatile Karen Novack as her blustering uncle, and the cute addition of child actress Rachel Boyd, whose presence is a warm addition to the cast. Also a strong presence is Greg Anderson, whose goofy miming in such tales as "The Bremen Town Musicians" and "Two Crows" is in the whimsical spirit that the show has in its greater moments.
Story Theater runs through September 13 at Round House Theater Silver Spring. Tickets are available online.