"Bite the Apple" at The New York International Fringe Festival
“Bite the Apple” By Linda Manning Directed by Katherine M. Carter Reviewed by David Roberts, Chief Critic Theatre Reviews Limited
Six Brothers Grimm Fairy Tale heroes, all women in this case, invite the audience to just “bite the apple” and move beyond the truths other people place in their heads and connect with their own truths, their own understanding of who they are. Who are these other people intent on re-programming minds? Think self-absorbed mothers, wolves (feral and human), princes, queens with low self esteem, careless parents, and inattentive brothers. Obviously that is only the short list.
Part adaptation, part re-telling, and part re-imagining, Linda Manning’s new play “Bite the Apple” persuades the audience members to reconnect with their stories, identify where their journeys have derailed, and reaffirm that each of them is “worth saving.” And although this appeal is made through the lives of fictional women to “non-fictional” women, its urgent entreaty is for all who have ears to hear and eyes to see.
As Sophia Petrillo (the late Estelle Sher-Gettleman) used to say on The Golden Girls, “Picture this!” Waiting for her husband back outside a club on their twentieth anniversary, Cinderella (Diana Henry) meets Little Red-Cap (Amy Young) who has just had anonymous sex with the belle of the ball’s missing husband (standing up!) in a nearby dark alley. Their “happily ever after stories,” in Manning’s adaptation, converge in the encounter they both have had with the Wolf (musician) in the club. Barely escaping from this charmer’s clutches (and not so sure they really want to), the two run off. Cinderella returns only to meet Little Snow White (Annette Arnold) and they share their stories of how things have turned out after the story book has closed and multitudes of children fell off to undisturbed sleep (or nightmares). In a continuing fairy tale relay, one story connects with another in an explosion of emotion: Cinderella inadvertently awakens Little Briar Rose (Jessica Arinella) who later meets Rapunzel (Linda Manning) who ultimately is reminded by Gretel (Diana Zambrotta) that Rapunzel needs to change her clothing to something black so they can attend Hansel’s funeral.
Yes, Linda Manning can make this stuff up and indeed it does not get much better than this well-constructed play which is directed by Katherine M. Carter with economy, vision, and sensitivity. The aforementioned actors bring their respective characters to life and those lives have dimension and depth and connect to the audience in powerful conscious and non-conscious ways. The characters’ choices remarkably counterpoint with the choices women have made and how those choices have affected their lives, their self-esteem, their interests, and their careers. Cinderella’s little glass slippers (here expensive Italian designer high heels with lethal steel support rods) serve as rhetorical trope – here an extended metaphor – for the kinds of empowerment needed to re-story lives that have not turned out as happy as they were intended to.
The show’s title “Bite the Apple” refers in situ to Little Snow White’s ability to bite the apple without the recurring fear of being poisoned (although, who knows, some risks are more dangerous than others) and with the renewed determination to be “a good parent.” However, the original forbidden fruit consumer Eve hovers about The New Ohio Theatre and this heavenly production reminding the audience of one of the most compelling “happily ever after” stories know to humankind. And that way that bite turned out is yet another story.
See “Bite the Apple.” Watch it, listen to it, see it, hear it, savor it, and continue to chew on its core until you know “which version of you is the right one.”
BITE THE APPLE
Presented by The Other Mirror and The New York International Fringe Festival. Written by Linda Manning. Directed by Katherine M. Carter. Scenic design by Sheryl Liu; costume design by Caitlin Cisek; sound design by Kortney Barber.
WITH: Jessica Arinella (Briar Rose); Annette Arnold (Snow White); Diana Henry (Cinderella); Linda Manning (Rapunzel); Amy Young (Red); and Diana Zambrotta (Gretel).
All performances take place at The New Ohio Theatre, 154 Christopher Street in New York, NY. Tickets are available at www.fringenyc.org or 866-468-7619. $15 in advance, $18 at the door. Senior and Fringe Junior tickets available at the door for $10. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes with no intermission.
Remaining Show Dates Tuesday, August 14th @ 3:00 pm Thursday, August 16th @ 4:15 pm Saturday, August 18th @ 8:00 pm
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Monday, August 13, 2012
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