Review: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Finds the Beauty Within

Beauty and the Beast is a magical tale, and it's appropriate that a magical theatre company like the Center for Puppetry Arts chose to adapt it. In their latest production, the Center for Puppetry Arts excels at giving a fresh new take on Beauty of the Beast that will delight both adults and children.

Before seeing the show, audiences should know this isn't the Beauty and the Beast you grew up with as a child. There's new characters, all new songs, the show takes place in a city, and almost everything in the production is constructed out of recycled materials, including the puppets. Belle is made of a mop head and an umbrella, the Beast has antlers and a large robe to emphasize his stature, there's a group of entertaining instruments, and those are just a few of the innovative uses of recycled materials you will see in the show. From a talking wrench to trendy wig heads, Beauty and the Beast from beginning to end surprises and leaves you in awe. What's even more impressive is the level of skill the puppeteers demonstrate as they work giant puppets, like a dancing tree, to tiny puppets, like a group of trickster mice that cause trouble. The originality and execution of Beauty and the Beast makes even adults believe in the magic it's expressing on stage.

What impresses me the most about this delightfully magical production, is that beyond all the puppetry and technical feats, this is a show about economic inequality. The story doesn't take place on a countryside, but rather a city that looks familiar to us. The villain isn't a misogynistic jerk like Gaston in the Disney movie, but instead we have the Beast's sister, Mrs. Crumple, whose wealth makes her feel like she owns the entire neighborhood and can lock her "beastly" brother away from the city. Mrs. Crumple's entitlement and annexation of the city represents a much larger problem we face today: gentrification. During a time where gentrification is on the rise, and the culture feels like it is being stripped away from the city of Atlanta, Beauty and the Beast takes a classic tale and exposes what can happen when you force someone to live a certain way. It's the social awareness and magic of Beauty and the Beast that it makes a stand out production, and a must see for audiences.

Performances for the Beauty and the Beast will be running till May 22. To buy tickets, or to learn more about the Center for Puppetry Arts head over to their main website at www.puppet.org

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