Petite Rouge brings brain to young theater
Synchronicity Theatre partnered with Aurora Theatre and brought back Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood for one more successful season as an encore production. The play is a retelling of the beloved little red riding hood tale, but it is set in the bayou in Louisiana and follows a duck, as the fabled red; a cat, her companion; and an evil alligator, taking place of the wolf. Amongst all the run-ins and adventures, there is a timeless story that Justin Anderson has directed to the point of smart, entertaining, and developed theater for the young. This is the kind of show that makes me wish I had kids, and wish that they could be captivated by multi-layered productions like this, and not surface fluff like those weird fuzzy beings that seem to cross our national stages.
Joan Cushing’s book, music and lyrics, adapted from Mike Artell and Jim Harris’s book, created characters and scenarios that take an old story and bring it back to life. It still holds onto the elements of silliness, and the good do still triumph over the conniving, but retold in this way, Petite Rouge is able to pack a bigger punch when it comes to morals of the story and childhood lessons and takeaways. The cast, Renita James as Petite Rouge; Alex B. West as TeJean the cat; Brian Harrison as Claude the gator; Michael Stiggers as the Frog and various roles; Taryn Janelle as Mother Duck and various roles; and Jessica De Maria as the Grandmother and various roles, made this fast paced journey through the bayou anything but boring and were constantly ready for anything while jumping from platform to platform and pulling feats of athleticism to quickly delve into their next role or arena.
Even as an adult, which made up of the majority of the audience, I laughed, feared for this personified little duck, and rejoiced in her conquering of the evil beast. Tales of self journey and finding ones own inner power cross age groups, and the safety of home is not just for the young to run back to. Finally this pairing of Atlanta performing arts brains has produced a show that is truly for all ages and won’t disappoint a single member of the family.
Petite Rouge is playing at Horizon Theatre until April 21. For show times and tickets, visit synchrotheatre.com.
