Reviewed by Sarah Valek
Raising a child in the city, I’m always on the lookout for cool new kid-friendly activities, especially ones infused with creativity and culture. So, I was greatly anticipating the first show of Cleveland-based Talespinner Children’s Theatre (TCT) ever since I heard about their inception last year. Another outlet for culture, creativity and the arts in the inner city — for kids? Really, how can you go wrong?
And TCT does not miss the mark. Their mission statement is to produce “highly imaginative, original, collaborative, and interactive professional works for children that also stimulate creative growth in its artists.” Their first production — The Tale of the Name of the Tree — certainly accomplished all that. Instead of presenting a classic fairy tale (which is fine, but so overdone), TCT chose to present a play based on a Bantu tale — a classic from another culture — which, in essence, was quite cool.
Like all good tales, The Tale of the Name of the Tree was simple yet compelling. Food was running scarce and the animals (the main characters) had to rely on a magical tree to save them… but only — and here’s the catch– if they remember the tree’s name. The animals — an ostrich (Ray Caspio), tortoise (Elaine Feagler), meerkat (Nathaniel Leeson), elephant (James [Jack] Hunt) and cheetah (Stephanie Wilbert) — were played by trained actors, many previously appearing in productions with Cleveland Public Theatre, Theater Ninjas, convergence-continuum and others.
The actors appeared to be having fun and made an effort to interact with the audience via puppets, musical sing-a-longs and call-and-response. Their costumes could’ve been straight out of Parade the Circle — all handmade with ingenuity and an eye for details. Masks were made out of a mesh material (the elephant’s trunk were particularly cool) and the costumes incorporated many found objects.
The 45-minute-or-so show was a hit with my four-year-old, who had no trouble recounting the plot to his friends after the show. You know the show’s good when it captivates a 4-year-old’s attention. The rest of the audience appeared captivated, too. When we left we heard an older girl exclaim to her mother, “I LOVED it!” After the show the cast lined up by the door to allow kids to meet the puppets, touch the masks and play the instruments.
TCT even offers a couple Pay-What-You-Can performances, affording everyone the opportunity to enjoy live theater.
Let’s hope that word gets around and more families take note of Talespinner Children’s Theatre (TCT) and their quality productions. We’re definitely looking forward to the next one.
Thanks, TCT, for giving families yet another GREAT option for entertainment in our village called Cle.
[Photo credit: Steve Wagner]
Talespinner Children’s Theatre is based at the Reinberger Auditorium, 5209 Detroit Ave., Cleveland. 216-264-9680. The Tale of the Name of the Tree runs through Sun 7/8. Get tickets and learn about their class offerings at http://TalespinnerChildrensTheatre.org.
Cool Cleveland editor Sarah Valek graduated from Ithaca College with a double-major in arts and writing. After graduation, she came back to her beloved city and served as an AmeriCorps*VISTA with the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless. She currently spends her days chasing after her toddler-age son, drinking soy lattes and digging up the coolest events around town. Contact her at CoolEditorATCoolCleveland.com.
Cleveland, OH 44102