The Snow Queen
From the Fairy Tale by Hans Christian Andersen
By Tyler J. Monroe
Directed by Allegra Libonati
At Filament Theatre, Chicago
Adult friendly and children approved, The Snow Queen is innovative and fun fairy tale for all audiences
The creatives at Filament Theatre have their first show at their new digs in Portage Park Six Corners Area (Irving park, Cicero and Milwaukee Ave.). It is a well stage, charming, audience-interactive fun 70 minutes of storytelling. Yes, The Snow Queen, reminiscent of the styles and craftsmanship of Redmoon Theatre, is a worthy initial production in their new space. Filament Theatre’s venue is a large, flexible space that is in its first phase of development and it is ready to offer creative and innovative theatre and concerts in a friendly and community responsive atmosphere.
To see The Snow Queen is to see what a troupe of dedicated to their art can achieve on stage. The Snow Queen, adapted from the Hans Christian Andersen diary tale by Tyler J. Monroe is the story of how the Snow Queen (Lindsey Dorcus) has the evil Goblin (Andrew Marchetti) shatter her mirror that reflects view of the world. some of the broken glass falls upon Kai (Christian Libonati) rendering him gloom and unloving. His girlfriend Gerda (Mara Dale) tries to get Kai back to his old loving self but Kai disappears into the world of ice and snow as he is smitten by the lure of the snow Queen.
Gerda travels to that icy world in search of Kai. Her adventures take her into a world of talking plants, a life-size reindeer, puppet designer Jeff Semmerling’s innovative puppets and masks include an audience-aided snow storm, satin rivers, paper roses, and rope acrobatic renderings. Director Allegra Libonati’s amazingly energy and storytelling staging propels us into the snowy world of the Snow Queen effectively. There are cute songs, impressive masks including swallows and a raven. The imaginative use of lighted shadows as well as having the cast of six play many roles and become on-stage props makes The Snow Queen into a fun hour. You’ll be impressed at the stage craft and work ethic of these players. They sing, dance, become puppets, they create the proper atmosphere and they effective act the characters of the classic fairy tale. Kids and adults got their imagination stimulated as they became enchanted by the tale. A good time was had by all.
A trip of Portage Park to see Filament’s new space will see that the location is parking friendly, easily accessed via the CTA. Their new large space will become a hub of performing arts once their Build Out Campaign succeeds. It is so exciting to see a group of dedicated professionals become passionate about their community arts center. You’ll want to help them reach their goal.
Highly Recommended
Tom Williams
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed: January 25, 2014
For more info checkout The Snow Queen page at theatreinchicago.com
At Filament Theatre, 4041 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL, call 773-270-1660, tickets $20, Fridays at 7:30 pm, Saturdays at 3 & 7:30 pm, Sundays at 3pm, running time is 70 minutes without intermission, through February 9, 2014