Review: They're Ba-a-a-ack: It's Winter Panto-time!

Winter Panto 2017: The Princess & The Pea

Directed by Matthew Woods; Written by The Ensemble; Costume Design, Cotton Talbot-Minkin; Lighting Design, Christopher Bocchiaro; Set & Sound Design Concept, Matthew Woods; Set Construction, Daniel Atchason, Joe Ouellette; Set Painting, Melissa Barker; Puppet Design, Beth Owens, Jill Rogati; Production & Stage Management, Sophia Giordano, Nate Goebel

CAST (in order of appearance): Sarah Gazdowicz, James Sims, Tom Rash, William Schuller, Amy Meyer, Joey C. Pelletier, Noah Simes, Bob Mussett, Molly Kimmerling, Melissa Barker, Alise Rittershaus, Sarah J. Mann, Cameron Cronin, Matthew Woods, Rebecca Lehrhoff-Joy

Performances by Imaginary Beasts through February 4 at Plaza Black Box Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont Street, Boston, MA; Box Office 617-933-8600 or www.imaginarybeasts.org

After a decade's worth of Winter Pantos, Matthew Woods and Imaginary Beasts have entertained a lot of theatergoers, adults and children alike, with their wildly imaginative mash-ups of beloved stories and fairy tales. For their 2017 offering, the Beasts present The Princess & The Pea, served with a generous portion of political satire. After all, how could they help but include a character that conjures up the President-Elect? Only in this fantasy world, the ruler is an orange-haired woman by the name of Queen Clump (Molly Kimmerling), whose alt-right hand man is the militaristic Stompundstammer (Bob Mussett). When her fey son Prince Percy (Sarah J. Mann) brings home his prospective bride Posy (Rebecca Lehrhoff-Joy), the royal mother tests her lineage by making her sleep on a pea buried under a stack of mattresses referred to as Trump Tower.

I'm sorry to say that there is little beyond that scene that has much to do with The Princess & The Pea. Numerous other storylines are strung together to craft a spider web of a tale which, while amusing and engaging, enmesh any thinking member of the audience in a tangle of confusion. That being said, the children in attendance are unfazed by the disconnected bits, as well as by the extended length of the show (about two and a half hours, with an intermission). The kids love that they get to interact with the characters, booing the villains and evoking some ad libs when they speak out of turn. However, an Imaginary Beasts performance is loosey-goosey and the actors roll with the punches (like a malfunctioning keyboard during a couple of songs) to keep the waves of laughter rolling onto the shore.

Regardless of any disappointment I might express, even a less-than-perfect Panto is a perfectly delightful time spent in the theater. Part of the joy in going to a Beasts' production is knowing that one does not really have to think as much as one must simply be; the ensemble looks like they are having so much fun that it becomes contagious. Many of the I.B. regulars are back: Sarah Gazdowicz, William Schuller, Amy Meyer, Joey C. Pelletier, Noah Simes, Mussett, Kimmerling, Melissa Barker, Cameron Cronin, and Woods. They welcome new cast members: Lehrhoff-Joy, Tom Rash, Alise Rittershaus, and James Sims.

There are a few musical numbers, the highlight of which is a Broadway sing-off between Demon King Cataract (Pelletier) and Nurse Nonny Nonesuch (velvet-voiced Cronin). Cotton Talbot-Minkin wows with her clever costume designs, as usual. Woods is the director, as well as responsible for the set and sound design concept, lighting design is by Christopher Bocchiaro, and a menagerie of puppets (mostly talking mice) is designed by Beth Owens and Jill Rogati. If there's one thing to be learned from their highly entertaining annual pageant, it's that it takes a village. As is the tradition of Imaginary Beasts, The Princess & The Pea (with apologies or credit to Hans Christian Andersen) is written by The Ensemble, a very clever lot, indeed.

Photo credit: Imaginary Beasts

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