Snowman, a fable for a winter night, an Open Eye Figure Theatre production at Open Eye Figure Theatre on 1/30/09
By: David de Young
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Billed as “a story for a winter night inside a cozy theatre,” Snowman’s subject matter made it particularly apt that it opened on the 30th day in a row that Minneapolis had been below 32 degrees. We should count ourselves lucky, however! In the fictitious town in which the play takes place, snow falls all the time and spring hasn’t been seen in years. Snow removal is a lucrative profession in a town where the snow is never-ending, but apparently it poses a problem of what to do with the dead: the mayor repeatedly warns, “It is not hygienic to keep the frozen bodies.”
An episodic and fast-paced mix of puppetry and live theatre, Snowman had me smiling in delight and frequently on the edge of my seat during its short 50 minute runtime. The cast of four (who also operate the puppets) are strong and evenly-matched. Emily Zimmer plays the heroine, Freya, a young girl who befriends an adorable mouse; Julian McFaul plays the bureaucratic Mayor, Elise Langer plays crazy witch/artist Gossman; and Lee Chriski plays the loveable town drunkard Duncan, who is never seen without his bottle of peppermint schnapps. (“I was reading that drinking was bad for you,” he jokes. “So I stopped reading!”)
There are many playful and downright hilarious moments, one being when Freya and the cast dance with a miniature puppet version of the snowman. But in addition to the humor there is a dark slightly disturbing undercurrent to the play. The song “Jolly Jolly hee hee hee,” for example, sung in a minor key comes off as downright spooky (much like the song “In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song)” from Eraserhead. Yes, this is puppet theater, but this production is not necessarily for kids. Though it may not upset them, it would likely leave younger children at least a little confused. A little boy sitting not far from us asked his mother for clarification a few times during the show suggesting he wasn’t quite grasping what was going on and what it was supposed to mean. (To be fair that wasn’t necessarily always that easy for the adults either.)
Music, lighting and projection design which regularly excel at Open Eye Figure Theatre productions were impressive, eye catching and memorable as expected. One minor problem with the production was the sound. At times it almost overpowered the actors, not to the point where they couldn’t be heard, but to the point where they had to strain more than they should have. That will likely be worked out as the run progresses.
As I mentioned, I don’t pretend to have understood everything that was going on. The mayor banning singing and ordering the magical snowman that had arrived in town be smashed with a shovel was possibly metaphorical, but for what I am not sure. The show certainly had its Frosty the Snowman parallels, and somehow by the end, good appeared to have triumphed over evil. But it ended somewhat abruptly, and I would have appreciated a bit more spoon-feeding of what exactly the moral of the story was. A pair of crow puppets that functioned a bit like a Greek chorus could have made more appearances to explain the narrative. But when all was said and done I was left delighted by the visual aspect of the puppetry and the set, the terrific acting, and the fun and spooky songs. Getting too bogged down in over-analysis of this one isn’t necessary. Just enjoy it for what it is, “a fable for a winter night.”
Snowman runs through February 28th. Tickets and more information at http://www.openeyetheatre.org.
Location Info:
Open Eye Figure Theatre
Artist Info: Open Eye Figure Theatre
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