REVIEW: Snow White at Young People’s Theatre
One might think a theatricalized version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves would demand a cast of, at minimum, eight people.
Toronto’s Young People’s Theatre has said, “nope!,” and endeavoured to create a complete Snow White with only two performers: YPT artistic director Herbie Barnes and JD Leslie at the performance the Intermission team attended, and Sort Of star Amanda Cordner and Ken Hall at other performances. It’s not publicized which team performs on which days.
What ensues on the Ada Slaight Stage is a silly, often improvised, high-energy afternoon of storytelling, with fragments of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale hurled between Snow White and her dwarf at a breakneck pace. Small costume pieces — a hood, a blanket, a hat — suggest different characters, and Barnes in particular as the rolodex of dwarves tries on several shades of vocal mask, ably disguising himself as each of the myriad characters he plays. Leslie’s role is more consistent — for 90% of the show, she’s Snow White, charming and childlike and appropriately whimsical.
Director Aurora Browne has found admirable balance between Barnes and Leslie — a delicate middle ground between freneticism and groundedness. Though at the show we attended, the performances didn’t always feel impeccably polished, the duo always look like they’re having fun — and that translates into the audience’s experience. Through choreographed movement and an impish give-and-take between the two figures onstage, Browne has created an enjoyable wander through the surprises within playwright Greg Banks’ text. The show is a little long — at 85 minutes, there were certainly some squirms on the afternoon I, our digital manager Janice, her husband and their two kiddos attended — but at its best, those minutes melt away as Barnes and Leslie banter with each other (and with us!).
A YPT outing would be incomplete without, er, YP. That’s why we brought along Celeste, 9 and Felix, 5, and asked what they thought (because, at the end of the day, this show is for audience members like them, not me). Overall, they enjoyed Snow White — it was a completely different version of the story than they’d previously known, and they found some of the physical business between Barnes and Leslie unspeakably fun — though they too found the show a little lengthy in its final third. It bears mentioning that this Snow White is darker than the Disney treatment; we meet the Huntsman and witness a few “violent” deaths. But the Grimm element is never overplayed, and as such succeeds in adding some texture to the story kids might have known before.
Visually, the show is lovely, making it almost feel like a pop-up book. Brandon Kleiman’s set and Laura Gardner’s costumes competently create a storybook feeling onstage, and Gardner’s costumes in particular make Snow White and her dwarves feel like grown-up-sized kids rather than grownups. Siobhan Sleath’s lights, too, are just the right amount of spooky when they need to be, evoking a suspenseful atmosphere without sacrificing the comfort of the show’s littler audience members.
The study guide YPT has created for the show is fantastic, with some fascinating exercises for school groups who might attend, including a game to help kids suspend their disbelief in the case of minimal props and a how-to for teachers to demonstrate the idea of “tableau.” The curious spirit of YPT shines brightly in that study guide, reinforcing the importance of drama in the classroom while also allowing students to have fun and explore at their own pace.
This Snow White is an intimate and relatively simple affair, but even in its simplicity it pieces together a low-stakes, highly amusing fairy tale for kids who might still be learning what theatre is and what their place in it could be. The improv element here is pretty fun, and the cast often demonstrates heartwarming chemistry. Who ever said it took more than two people to tell the story of Snow White?
Snow White runs at YPT through November 21, 2022 – January 7, 2023.
Aisling Murphy
Aisling is Intermission's senior editor and an award-winning arts journalist with bylines including the Toronto Star, Globe & Mail, CBC Arts, CTV News Toronto, and Maclean's. She likes British playwright Sarah Kane, most songs by Taylor Swift, and her cats, Fig and June. She was a 2024 fellow at the National Critics Institute in Waterford, CT.
LEARN MORE
iPhoto caption: 13 Plays About ADHD All At The Same Time graphic courtesy of Circlesnake Productions.
REVIEW: 13 Plays About ADHD All At The Same Time is true to its title
While the play’s structure may occasionally leave you feeling as scattered as its protagonists, its heart, humour, and raw honesty will keep your thoughts churning well into the night.
iPhoto caption: Goblin:Macbeth production still by Jae Yang.
REVIEW: Goblin:Macbeth might just leave you gobsmacked
While most of the entertainment comes from the goblins’ antics whenever the Shakespearean text is paused or subverted for comic effect, the secret sauce to this whole endeavour is that it really is an honest-to-goodness staging of that text, designed to showcase the performers’ near-virtuosic mastery of the material.
iPhoto caption: Photo by Dahlia Katz.
REVIEW: The Thanksgiving Play wriggles in performative wokeness
In 2024, is there a way to produce an engaging, culturally sensitive play about the first American Thanksgiving for elementary schoolers? The Thanksgiving Play, penned by Native American playwright Larissa FastHorse and now playing at Mirvish’s CAA Theatre, poses that question in its first five minutes, then throws the query out with the cranberry sauce in its madcap exploration of a devised theatre piece at an unnamed primary school.
iPhoto caption: The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine production still by Curtis Perry.
REVIEW: The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine simmers just below the surface
While the show certainly induces laughter, some of its strong design elements paint the actors into a corner, at times making the comedy feel a touch manufactured.
iPhoto caption: Samca production still by Barry McCluskey.
REVIEW: Samca is a disturbing, unique production that explores folklore and womanhood
The feminist folklore play, written by and starring Natalia Bushnik and Kathleen Welch, is an engrossing and sometimes frightening experience, perfect to kick off the scary season.
iPhoto caption: King James production still by Dahlia Katz.
REVIEW: King James interrogates hometown pride and fandom
LeBron James’ checkered legacy looms large over the events of King James, sensitively written by American playwright Rajiv Joseph and now playing in a stylish production at Theatre Aquarius.
iPhoto caption: Photo by Dahlia Katz.
REVIEW: The Thanksgiving Play wriggles in performative wokeness
In 2024, is there a way to produce an engaging, culturally sensitive play about the first American Thanksgiving for elementary schoolers? The Thanksgiving Play, penned by Native American playwright Larissa FastHorse and now playing at Mirvish’s CAA Theatre, poses that question in its first five minutes, then throws the query out with the cranberry sauce in its madcap exploration of a devised theatre piece at an unnamed primary school.
iPhoto caption: King James production still by Dahlia Katz.
REVIEW: King James interrogates hometown pride and fandom
LeBron James’ checkered legacy looms large over the events of King James, sensitively written by American playwright Rajiv Joseph and now playing in a stylish production at Theatre Aquarius.
iPhoto caption: Come From Away production still by Matthew Murphy.
REVIEW: Welcome home, Come From Away
On the surface, not much has changed in Irene Sankoff and David Hein’s Tony Award-winning masterwork. But in the two and a half years since Come From Away’s last stint on King Street West, the show has continued to mature, and even improve — the production now playing at the Royal Alexandra Theatre is just stunning.
iPhoto caption: King James production still by Dahlia Katz.
King James brings basketball — and bromance — to Theatre Aquarius
“Sports and theatre both hold extraordinary characters in extraordinary circumstances,” says director Haysam Kadri. “That’s what my favourite type of theatre is: Characters placed in such interesting circumstances, and seeing how they navigate the world.”
iPhoto caption: Photo by Dahlia Katz.
REVIEW: 1939 finds tremendous power in the things left unspoken
Jani Lauzon’s production, now playing at Canadian Stage, paints a sharp portrait of a fictional residential school, but uses wide swathes of negative space to its advantage.
iPhoto caption: Photo by Johan Persson.
REVIEW: Life of Pi gleams with unforgettable puppets
Based on the beloved novel by Yann Martel, the exquisite touring production uses puppets as its vocabulary, asking complex questions about storytelling and the power of imagination.
Comments