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Newspaper Articles 
Theater review: Once Upon a Forest is slice of real life 
Pioneer Press
Published: January 25, 2003
By Dominic P. Papatola
It's a big, scary world out there, kids. And, to make it to your happy ending, you're going to have to face it alone.
The Children's Theatre Company's production of "Once Upon a Forest" dresses this truth up in pretty costumes and sets it to fun and familiar music. And while it doesn't sugarcoat reality, it somehow manages to make the hard piece of knowledge a little more palatable for audiences young and old.
The world premiere production is a collection of Grimms' fairy tales set more or less concurrently, as the title suggests, in the deep, dark woods. There are distinct folk (like Snow White and Red Riding Hood) as well as some familiar archetypes (giants and dragons, put-upon brothers and lonely princesses).
What aren't here are nurturing grown-ups of any kind. The parents of these characters are absent, ailing, inattentive or spiteful. That puts the onus on the youngsters to, by themselves, face their fears, figure out solutions and build the relationships that will help them get on in the world.
That's a sobering lesson, and it's so clear and prevalent that there is absolutely no way you can take a child to this show without having a conversation with him about it afterward. Protective parents of young children will blanch at the directness and the harshness of the message.
On the other hand, this production also gives young audiences a tremendous amount of respect and credit for being able to (a) separate reality from fantasy and (b) make important connections on their own. The heroes of these stories do so, in every case, and that's an empowering thing for a young person to see.
And it's done beautifully. Dutch director Moniek Merkx, making her American debut with this production, has a wonderfully idiosyncratic eye for making pictures on stage. The play begins with a red drape suspended a couple feet off the floor, and with a wordless narrative articulated only by music and the variously adorned, very animated feet of the cast.
Merkx also has a quirky, mischievous ear that helps to add some interesting layers to the production. As the youngsters are about to head into the woods (marvelously represented in Sanne Danz's set design by a dozen or so thick brown cylinders that float menacingly around the stage), there's a musical pastiche that includes everything from West Side Story's "Something's Comin' " to the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations." It's a moment that's ingenious both for its complexity and for its ability to hook grown-up audiences into this children's story.
Too, Merkx has found herself a tremendous cast who can shift characters swiftly and effortlessly. Dean Holt, who seems to be able to make his body and his voice do almost everything, is - again - consistently excellent, whether he's a dim-bulb knight-errant or an evil stepmother. Reed Sigmund is, among other things, a heartbreakingly charming hedgehog. Luverne Seifert is a wry, lippy clown of a tailor.
Autumn Ness, Emily Zimmer, Katy McEwen, Steven B. Young and Michael Lee complete the cast, each providing a bounty of moments that are tender or terrifying or laugh-out-loud funny.
What: "Once Upon a Forest"
Where: Children's Theatre Company, 2400 Third Ave. S., Minneapolis
When: Through March 8
Tickets: $28-$9
Information: (612) 874-0400
Capsule: Two guarantees: This show will entertain you. And it will set you to talking.
More about ONCE UPON A FOREST»
Copyright 2003 Pioneer Press. Republished here with permission.
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