Puppet shows are enchanting things, and I was immediately smitten by the chanteuse Miss Elsa in the Know Theatre Company's current production of "The Dragon," as she sang a torch ballad about "Unconditional Love," coming out into the audience for some flirting and schmoozing.
The entire cast of puppets, created by Cincinnati's Mad Cap Puppet Theatre, have a distinctive style, part Damon Runyon/part Tim Burton, suitable to the story about an adventurer who wanders the world slaying dragons and saving towns. In this case, however, the townfolk are reluctant to give up their dragon.
An interesting twist is that the adventurer, Lancelot, is played by a real life, full-size actor, as is the Dragon, but all of the townspeople are knee-high marionettes.
After the enchantment wears off, however, "The Dragon" begins to lose its magic.
The play has the tone and pace of actors playing with puppets, but not really acting with them. They seem to be distracted by the mechanics of puppetry, not comfortable in the bodies of the marionettes, which slows down the pace so much that the lack of poetry or nuance in the script becomes all too apparent. There are a couple of good lines ("The only way to be free of dragons is to have one of your own"), but quite a few clunkers (something about milking the cows for information), too, and an admirable spirit of social and political satire, but there's no sizzle, at least not the kind that a puppet show needs. The script needs serious editing. It's a nice enough plot that goes on too long. Without some serious diversion (How about putting the fight scene on stage somehow? Puppets are magic!), a show like this should only be a longish one-act.
And I would like to have seen more of the cat...
- Tickets are $12 advance, $15 week of the performance.
- Box office number: (513) 300-KNOW
Comments