The wild bunch
Public Theatre will debut its new holiday treat, “The Wind in the Willows,” with Michael O’Brien telling the stories of Toad, Rat and Mole.
LEWISTON – The adventures of Rat, Mole, Toad and Badger will come alive on The Public Theatre’s stage this holiday season in a new theatrical storytelling production of “The Wind in the Willows.”
Slated for only four performances, Dec. 12-14, this delightful production will feature actor Michael O’Brien and be underscored by fiddler Lissa Schneckenburger.
“It will be magical and sweet,” said Christopher Schario, artistic director of The Public Theatre. “With sets, lighting, staging and music, ‘It will be a real theatrical event.'”
“After nine seasons of doing ‘A Christmas Carol,’ we decided to take a break and create a new holiday production,” said Christopher Schario, artistic director of The Public Theatre.
The new show evolved from a plan to have O’Brien do a one-man reading of holiday stories.
“In our search for stories, Michael suggested to us a Christmas-themed chapter in ‘The Wind in the Willows’ where Mole goes home for the holidays and the field mice come-a-caroling. As we read this chapter, we became so charmed by the adventures of the animals that we decided to adapt the entire novel for our holiday production,” Schario said.
Published in 1908, “The Wind in the Willows” remains one of the world’s best-loved children’s classics. An estimated 25 million copies have been sold across 70 countries. This adaptation is faithful to the language of the original book.
True to story’s delights
Schario emphasized that, as with his adaptation of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” he placed a high value on retaining the power of the author’s written word.
“We use only the text of the original story, bringing it to life in a theatrical way and preserving the richness of the language,” he said.
In addition to being a feast for the ear, “The Wind in the Willows” is a delight for the reader-speaker who can give voice to Kenneth Grahame’s delicious descriptions of the Wild Wood and its whimsical inhabitants. It was certainly meant to be read aloud so that each nuance of pacing and flavor of every word may be savored.
“The Wind in the Willows” is performed by O’Brien in a similar style to his Halloween show, “Things That Go Bump in the Night.” In tweed jacket typical of an English country gentleman, O’Brien takes the audience into his imagination as he tells about the irrepressible Mr. Toad and his infatuation with a motorcar. O’Brien becomes each of the characters as he tells how Toad’s good friends pitch in to help when the ownership of his ancestral home, Toad Hall, is in peril.
The motorcar adventure is familiar to many who have seen the Disney animated short film from 1949. Another feature-length cartoon version, which follows the book more closely, was created by Rankin/Bass in 1985.
O’Brien, in this adaptation of the book, also tells the familiar tale of Rat, who loves to mess about in small boats. Toad even sings a couple of songs.
A recent Scrooge
Grahame’s classic book is meant as much for adults as it is for children, O’Brien said. In fact, he’s confident that many parents who see this show will seize the chance to read this story aloud to their children again.
O’Brien said that “The Wind in the Willows” has always been one of his favorites.
“The whole book would take three or four hours to do,” he said. “This version runs about an hour and a half, but it’s basically all there.”
O’Brien, who has played Scrooge for the past couple of years at The Public Theatre, is a native of Lubec. He has toured the United States with different theater companies, and has lived in Los Angeles, New York and Boston.
“I particularly like to do shows like this,” he said. O’Brien noted that he has also been involved in programs of The Public Theatre for student audiences. These include a Jack London program and James Thurber’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.”
O’Brien is familiar to Maine audiences from his work with The Public Theatre over the past 10 seasons, as well as his 26 seasons acting at The Theater at Monmouth, where he also served as artistic director.
Lissa’s “sassy” fiddle
Sweet and sassy fiddle work by well-known Maine fiddler Lissa Schneckenburger will augment O’Brien’s dramatic storytelling.
The whimsical magic of the visual world for this production will be created by lighting designer Bart Garvey and set designer Jake Kavanagh, the team that designed Public Theatre’s hilarious production of “Red Herring” in October.
“The Wind in the Willows” should be a wonderful holiday experience for the whole family. It’s suggested that youngsters who are at least 8 years old would get the most from this production.
Performances of “The Wind in the Willows” are Friday, Dec. 12, at 8 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 13, at 2 and 6 p.m.; and Sunday, Dec, 14, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $16 for adults, $14 for students and seniors, and $11 for children under 12. For tickets call the box office at 782-3200.
The Public Theatre is located at Lisbon and Maple Streets, downtown Lewiston.
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