BWW Reviews: THE JABBERWOCKY Creates Sense Out of Nonsense

I went to a reading of The Jabberwocky performed by Idaho Theater for Youth. They are flushing out the script before they go into rehearsals to perform for elementary schools around the Northwest.

The JABBERWOCKY is based on a poem by Lewis Carroll in Alice Throuh the Looking Glass. Many people are confused about the poem and what it all means. All of the words are made-up, so much could be read into it. I really enjoyed what authors; Dakota Brown, Noah Moody, and Chat Shohet have done with the poem to give it meaning for young audiences.

This was a reading so there were no sets, lighting, costumes or real action. They did have a few props to help those actors with many characters show which character they were portraying. Since it was a reading, the stage directions were read out to the audience to help set the stage for what they wanted to try to accomplish over the next few months in production. I hope that the sets they create will set the mood that our "narrator", Renee K. Vomocil (also the director/producer) did with her passionate reading of the very descriptive stage directions. I have read many a stage direction that never saw fruition, my hope is that they will be able to accomplish this feat. I believe they will.

The passion that this theatre company has for performing for youth is obvious. They are very energetic and articulate, the students will get drawn into the story. They were also able to come up with a way to do rock, paper, scissors that an audience member sitting all the way in the back would be able to see and realize who the winner was; (it might start a new trend with those students who see) Cowboy, Ninja, Bear.

They realize that there are details to work out with the action, and the lines - but they are well on their way. It was already obvious that this is an anti-bully play. There are so many other lessons that are included in this performance as well that any student who sees it will be able to get something out of it that will mean something to them. Be yourself. Hate actions - not the people doing them. Reading is awesome! And more.

I was impressed with such a great simple story out of such a complicated poem. The schools that they visit, and they will visit 88-90 schools on their tour of the northwest, will greatly benefit from seeing the performance. They will enjoy themselves and not just because they were able to get out of class for a few hours.

The production is available for bookings through the webstite: http://www.idahoshakespeare.org/idaho-theater-for-youth/

Photo Credit: Borrowed from their website

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