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The Queen of Colors
Review by Neal Weaver
Wallis Annenberg Center
Through Jan. 18
RECOMMENDED:
On a small arched screen at center stage is played out the tale of the imperious, fickle and slightly goofy Little Queen, represented by a stylized shadow puppet. At stage left is painter Eva Noelle, standing beside a small table with her paints, which she uses to depict all the settings and props which are projected on the screen. She provides the narration, while the engaging composer-accordionist Patrice Langlois sits at stage right providing comic musical punctuation.
We see the Little Queen in her castle, going about her daily activities: waking up, reluctantly taking her shower, eating her breakfast, and going outside to play with her ball. (The children seemed to be delighted at seeing her perform familiar activities, and they’re particularly impressed when she dribbles her ball.) She announces that red is her favorite color, and demands that everything be red. Noelle applies her brush to provide a red castle, a red tree, a red flower and a splay-legged red horse. The Little Queen jumps onto the horse, and goes for a strenuous ride. But to her distress, she finds that bouncing on the saddle has given her a large blue bruise on her backside. She declares red is no longer her favorite color, and she wants blue instead. Noelle obliges by painting her a blue sea, where she can swim and ride in her boat. But soon she is chilled by all the blue water, and demands yellow to warm her up. Noelle paints her a yellow desert, but still chilly, she demands four suns. And so on, till she exhausts all the colors, and is left in a grim gray world, which causes her to burst into tears. But luckily, she sheds multi-colored tears, restoring color to her world.
This children’s play (suitable for ages 4-7) is based on a book by Jutta Bauer, and presented by the French/German Compagnie Les Voisins. It is written, designed, directed and performed by Olbrich and Noelle.
This cheery tale is made magical by allowing us to see it being created as it goes along, and Noelle is a delightful narrator, relating sweetly both to us and to the Little Queen. Langlois adds to the comedy, and finally, in the curtain call, puppeteer Olbrich emerges to take his bow. It’s hard to say just how much of the play’s philosophic overtones reached the children, but the show kept them laughing and fascinated for all of its 45 minutes.
Compagnie Les Voisins at The Lovelace Studio Theatre, Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 9390 N. Santa Monica Boulevard, Beverly Hills. Fri., 6 p.m., Sat. and Sun., 12 p.m. & 2:30 p.m., through Jan. 18. (310) 746-4000 or www.thewallis.org.
