BWW Reviews: FAIRY TALE Too Twisted to Have Happily Ever After

The Off-Broadway Shelter Theatre presents FAIRY TALE, of five original short plays inspired by the stories of The Brothers Grimm, Washington Irving, and Charles Perrault. Each story is a unique take on classic fairy tales, but unfortunately, there is hardly any semblance of the originals as these stories remain strange and often quite disturbing.

Dinner for the Queen. In this story inspired by Snow White, the desperate queen sits at a table and devours what she believes is Snow White's organs in an attempt to absorb her vitality and remain the "fairest of all." Melinda Smart (the "Queen") eats every last morsel org*smically, and often times I felt like I was watching Meg Ryan during her famous restaurant scene in When Harry Met Sally.

R.I.P. Captain Wendel is a modern spoof of Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving. In this story, Captain Wendel awakens in a hospital bed from a 20-year coma after being shot down by an air missile in Desert Storm. He can't move, his wife divorced him, and he finds himself old and useless. Chris Cardona plays a convincing "Captain Wendel," who is clearly traumatized about the realization of his world 20 years post-war, post-divorce, and post-life.

Perhaps the most entertaining of the five, Three Sisters and a Carnie, is inspired by Norwegian folk tale, The Three Billy Goats Gruff. It's a story of three sisters trying to get into a carnival funhouse, which is "guarded" by the Gruff ticket collector. Sisters Billie Jean, Billie Sue, and Willamenia (played by Tania Verafield, Ginger Kearns, and Aubrey Ball, respectively) are hilarious in their portrayal of the slutty and jaded fairgoers, while Edwin Sean Patterson ("Gruff") convincingly plays a boorish imbecile who insists that he's not a carnie, but rather, the "operations manager of the fun-o-matic," and thinks, "A funhouse should be fun...in [his] funhouse, there would be football and free blowjobs."

Kate, inspired by Charles Perrault's Donkey Skin, is a disturbing drama about a college professor who is lamenting over his dead wife while falling in love with a young college student, who also happens to be his daughter. While both Rachel Cora ("Kate") and Michael Sean McGuinness ("Henry") are impressive actors handling this intense and powerful material, this sketch sparks too much controversy and leaves the audience feeling queasy and a bit confused.

The final scene, Terror on Haxos 9, is inspired by Brothers Grimm's Hansel and Gretel where two astronauts are placed on the moon, and, hungry, find a food-making machine with a feeding tube. As the story unfolds, the audience is taken on a journey of humor, intrigue, nonsense, and horror. Laine Bonstein as "Dr. Lenora Gretsky" and Nick Stevens as "Lt. Hank Calkins" have wonderful chemistry as they showcase this gritty take on a classic tale.

Although bold and daring, The Shelter Theatre Company presents such a twisted view of the classics that they no longer have anything to do with the originals. As independent original works, they would have had better appeal; but to size them up to their original masters creates unnecessary comparisons when they're far too removed for comparison. If you want a night of eerie, adult entertainment, then Fairy Tale may be just the ticket. However, leave the kids at home and don't expect to see Prince Charming or any happily ever afters in this Scary Tale.

Fairy Tale is presented Thursdays and Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 3pm and 8pm, and Sundays at 3:00pm thru December 11, 2011 at the 45th Street Theatre in NYC. Log on to www.theshelternyc.org for further information.

Photo Credit: M. Kingsbaker

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