Two Ducks Theatre Company, a new theatre company on Philadelphia's Main Line, will present its first production: Rainbowtown, a hilarious new play for kids. Rainbowtown runs Sept. 6-20 at the Radnor United Methodist Church in Bryn Mawr, part of FringeArts' 2014 festival.
Rainbowtown is a hilarious, interactive, and touching play for kids, performed by professional actors and including original live music. It's about feelings, colors, and a Queen's search for a new home. The performance concludes with a playtime celebration.
Rainbowtown was written by Carrie Nielsen, a resident of Bryn Mawr and a professor at Cabrini College. It is directed by her husband, Bill D'Agostino, the Communications and Education Director at Act II Playhouse in Ambler and the creator of the Murray the Elf mysteries that have delighted Act II audiences at Christmastime.
"It's been so much fun writing a silly, goofy play for little kids," Nielsen said. "If it helps them learn how to talk about their feelings, that's great, but mostly I hope they have fun."
Performances of Rainbowtown are: Saturday, Sept. 6 at 11 a.m.; Sunday, Sept. 7 at 3 p.m.; Saturday, Sept. 13 at 11 a.m.; Sunday, Sept. 14 at 3 p.m.; and Saturday, Sept. 20 at 11 a.m. Radnor United Methodist Church is located 930 Conestoga Road in Bryn Mawr. There is free parking at the church.
All tickets for Rainbowtown are $8. Tickets are available online at
www.twoduckstheatre.org, by calling
(484) 381-0451, through the FringeArts web site, or at the door. Two Ducks Theatre Company offers free exchanges on all tickets, subject to availability.
"Theater for young audiences is getting better all the time, but I still don't think there's enough high-quality professional theater for little kids," Nielsen said. "Hopefully, Rainbowtown will fill this niche."
Rainbowtown is about the journey of Queen Annie, played by Amanda Curry.
Victoria Rose Bonito (who recently played Juliet in Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre's production of Romeo and Juliet) plays all nine other characters in this quick-change comedy.
Queen Annie is tired of living in Greytown, where everything is grey and the people have no emotions, so she sets out to build a new palace somewhere more colorful. First, she visits Redtown, where all the residents are always excited, and Little Malin Red's bouncy exuberance quickly wears her out.
Queen Annie continues on to Orangetown, where everybody is always angry, and then to Yellowtown (happy), Greentown (relaxed), Bluetown (sad), and Purpletown (silly). The antics of these towns' quirky characters, young and old, convince her that too much of any one emotion is, well, too much. Will she finally find the perfect place for her new palace in Rainbowtown?
Costumes for Rainbowtown are designed by
Melissa Murray. The show's songwriter/guitarist is Michael Covel.
"I knew I wanted the play to end with a celebration, and we are so lucky to have Michael writing an original song," Nielsen said. "What could be better than a chance for the kids to get up and join in the singing and dancing?"
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