Grab the kids โ and adults โ and head to Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre.
There on stage youโll see a remarkable little play by Finegan Kruckemeyer, โThis Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing.โ
Ostensibly a fairy tale, this is one little girls didnโt have back in the old days.
The heroes are all heroines. Love figures in, but it isnโt the point. Bravery marks the main characters, as does generosity and heart.
And, oh yes, there are adventures aplenty, tears, and lots of laughter. All without ever pandering to the intended audience.
โThis Girl โฆ โ is about three sisters, triplets: Beatrix (Gabriella De Brequet), Carmen (Nicole DelPrete) and Albienne (Feliz Torralba). The loss of their mother was a deep and profound one for them and their father (Immanuel Abraham). Once he finds love again, thereโs hope. But she is an evil stepmother and convinces their father to take them to the woods and abandon them.
There they have a choice: Shiver and give up or forge a new way, discover new things, find out who they are. And that is what these 10-year-olds do.
Over the next 20 years, we are with them.
Albienne, who loves sweets, heads east; Beatrix, who loves the sun, goes west, and Carmen, who loves to help others, stays where she is.
We go on their journeys with them: Albienne is a warrior, defending helpless villages, until she learns there is a better way. Beatrix brings the sunshine to a village of unhappy souls. And Carmen builds a house in the forest and throws her doors open for those in need. All that time, they never forget each other, and know that one day, they will again be together.
Holly Griffith directed this production with a big imagination. While the stage is mostly bare in the beginning, along the way, with just a few props, a lighthouse becomes a submarine; a house is constructed, trees are planted and battles are fought with a rolling pin as a sword.
And the emotional heft of this piece never wanes.
The acting was scrumptious. De Brequet, who plays the sister who cries, feels deeply and cries sincerely. DelPreteโs Carmen is the sister who stays. We sense the weight of the world that the character feels in DelPreteโs hands. And the warrior, Albienne, is given a strength and heart by Torralba.
Abraham is a composer and a breathtaking classical violinist studying for his doctorate at the University of Arizona. As well as effectively playing the dad, he provided the music (music is not in the original script; after seeing this production one has to wonder why). Playing an electric violin, he opened the play with the sublime prelude from Bachโs first cello suite. Over the course of the production, that piece is deconstructed and morphed into something new, and each note beautifully punctuated the action on stage.
Ensemble members Claire Hancock and Leora Sapon-Shevin seamlessly shifted characters and helped to fill out this moving production.
Most of the performances of โThis Girlโโฆโโ are matinees, making it easily accessible to children. And children are going to love it.
So will grown-ups.
