BWW Reviews: THE WHITE SNAKE Mesmerizes Audience with Magical Storytelling

When it comes to differing accounts of a story, which do you believe - the logical or the mystical?

"The White Snake" asks this question many times whenever the tale of the magical snake reaches a fork in the road where the story could be explained by the divine or the mundane. Either way, the play asserts the outcome is the same. You will still end up where you are meant to be, whichever account of the events is true.

At the opening night of "The White Snake" on the Guthrie Theater's McGuire Proscenium Stage, the audience was transported to a colorful ancient world. The play, written and directed by Tony winner Mary Zimmerman, posed many questions and offered deeply moving answers.

Amy Kim Waschke plays the White Snake/ Lady Bai, alternating between quiet charm and supernatural strength. Her feisty sidekick, Tanya Thai McBride, delivers some of the funniest moments of the show as the Green Snake. Lady Bai's loving but gullible husband is earnestly portrayed by Jake Manabat. Matt DeCaro becomes the villainous Buddhist monk with gleeful enthusiasm.

The story begins "long ago, in a great country" with two snakes on a mountain. But these are not normal snakes. They are on a journey to enlightenment and have spent centuries learning all sorts of magical skills, most importantly the ability to turn into humans. Bored on the mountaintop, they venture down to the city below and take on human identities. The White Snake (Waschke) becomes Lady Bai while the Green Snake (McBride) very creatively becomes Greenie. Unsurprisingly, Lady Bai quickly falls in love and Greenie tricks the innocent Xiu Xian (Manabat) into marrying her friend immediately. Hilarious hijinks ensue when cold-hearted monk Fa Hai (DeCaro) attempts to reveal Lady Bai's true identity to her doting husband.

Within the first moment of the show, it was clear this was a visual story. The costumes were beautiful, creating a lush scene against minimal sets. There were few structures onstage; most scenery was left to the imagination. Silk scarves gave fluid form to rain, wind and clouds while puppets and parasols created the snakes.

The delivery of each line in the show's clever dialogue and witty puns was spot on. From the elongated "s" sounds from the snakes to the subtle variances in the inflection on the punchlines, the banter between characters was captivating. Disregarding the few slower moments of exposition and one jarring but amusing rap, the story flowed along enchantingly. It reached its most touching moment near the end when Manabat struck the perfect balance between melodrama and the rawness of young love in an impassioned speech.

A shocking ending brought the plot full circle to the implied moral, true to the folktale roots of the story. The final scene reached poignant closure, when the answer to the show's first question is given. Which story do you believe? Is it magical or rational? "The White Snake" says it is not important. No matter what you believe, no matter how you arrive at your final moments, you are not alone.

"The White Snake" continues at the Guthrie Theater until October 19.

Photo credit: Liz Lauren

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