Hello Members,

I thought members might find a recent review of our Commedia
performance of Jack and the Beanstalk informative. We've done Jack
and the Beanstalk for all types of audiences: colleges, ren faires,
late night cabaret, Italian societies. The performance reviewed had
mostly kids in the audience.
------------Glenn


The Comedia dell Arte performance of 'Jack and the Beanstalk' by the
Philadelphia based troupe, Pasta Shock, was highly engaging and the
two performers were able to convey a warmth and accessibility
allowing all to feel they could engage in the activity. The children
were excited by the deftness of movement and the performers were able
to pick up on this and draw them into the playful nature of the
evening. Jim Bowen as Brighella has a joyful and comic flair to his
voice and movement which adds to the funny and entertaining
experience. Glenn Russell as Pulcinella has mastered the art of mime
and watching him climb the beanstalk fills the mind with imaginative
possibilities. It is rare to see someone who can really do mime and I
would like to see more of this in the troupe's future performances.
The audience seemed to see this as a high point of the evening as
some children asked prior to the performance: "Where's the
beanstalk?" Jim Bowen has excellent puppetry skills and brought
everyone into attention a few minutes prior to the performance with
some highly imaginative use of puppetry. He encouraged the audience
to touch the puppet and this set the tone for the rest of the show.
The children felt free to call out when they wanted and the line
between audience and performer was dissolved.