James and the Giant Peach
James and the Giant Peach
By David Wood
Adapted from a story by Roald Dahl
Directed by Tim Williams
Orlando Shakespeare Theater
Orlando FL</strong>
Geez, these kids get ALL the fun. Lacking the ambiguity of “Hamlet” or the sheer desperation of “Long Day’s Journey into the Night”, “James and the Giant Peach” is an adventure story with a moral and tons of really cool stage tricks. James (Michael Sheehy) starts out as so many fairy tale children do: abandoned by his parents and raised by abusive in-laws. His evil aunts are foam puppets worn by Ladybird (Liz Mignacca) and Centipede (Anna Carol). Carol is scrawny Aunty Spiker, Mignacca the adorably mean Auntie Sponge; she’s the one who’s soft and squidgy, particularly where she sits. Amen. James finds a supernatural opportunity but he spills his magic beans and instead of he being transformed, all the local insects and fruits trees are. Soon we are off to fight sharks, sucker punch an octopus, and hijack a flock of seagulls as James and his invertebrate friends travel from rustic England to NYC.
Step past the herd of mewling babies (this was a particularly early audience) and you’ll find every piece of magic Orlando Shakes can pull off. The transformation of the peach was the best stage trick I’ve ever seen here, complete with lasers and black clad stage hands. Seagulls dropped from the ceiling poop free, the underwater scenes were actually scary and words and actions did what they do best here: they make a complete and hermetic world out of foam and paint and action. Mr. Grasshopper (Christopher Joel Onken) narrates; he’s tall and greenish and never missed a chance to stand on one leg like an Ian Anderson violin solo. The best line went to Rastafarian looking Earthworm (Ryan M Skiles) as he proudly exclaimed “I have no bones!” And then there was Miss Spider (Danielle Reneè); she offered a suitably wholesome mix of danger and mild sexiness. Big bonus points to scenic charge Patricia Sorbi and her crew, their peach needs to go in a prop museum somewhere. Like all good children’s shows, this one keeps the adults oohing, ahhing and laughing; it interacts with the children in the front rows; and it carries a “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval” moral asking us to value everyone for their own special abilities.
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