Wheelock’s ‘Mountain’ a vivid
adaptation
By Terry
Byrne
Grace Lin’s captivating “Where the Mountain
Meets the Moon” is a potent blend of fantasy, Chinese folklore, and heroic
adventure. On the Wheelock Family Theatre stage, the book’s theatrical
adaptation combines vivid imagery with simple storytelling for an enchanting
journey from Fruitless Mountain to the village of Bright Moonlight and back
again.
Lin’s chapter book, which is geared to readers
ages 8 to 12, weaves multiple traditional Chinese themes and characters into
the main story line, which focuses on young Minli (Caroline Workman) and her
quest to improve her family’s fortune. While managing all of the stories might
create staging challenges, director Jane Staab and her production team make
some very low-tech choices that have a powerful dramatic impact.
Choreographer Laurel Conrad and costume designer
Melissa Miller collaborate on particularly winning costumes and movement that
suggest the wind and rain and a silvery and graceful Old Man of the Moon, not
to mention a greedy pack of monkeys.
Adapter Jeannine Coulombe uses selective
narration to link the different stories, and Staab takes advantage of the
opportunity to position various members of her ensemble in different areas of
the stage to deliver key transitions and bits of exposition. The effect is one
of constant movement, making it easy for the audience to follow Minli from her
desperately poor home to the sky where the Jade Dragon and her children control
the rain.
At the heart of “Where the Mountain Meets the
Moon” is the power of storytelling. The play opens with children gathering
around a storyteller, asking for the chance to play different roles in the
tales. The storyteller soon morphs into Minli’s father, Ba (Michael Tow), whose
tales feed Minli’s imagination even when there’s little rice to feed the
family.
Minli’s Ma (Grace Napier) scoffs at Ba’s
impractical stories and bemoans the family’s lack of money, inspiring Minli to
spend one of the only two coins she has on a goldfish the seller promises will
bring good fortune.
Following the fish’s instructions, Minli heads
out on a quest to find the Old Man of the Moon who knows the secret of good
fortune and ties everyone’s destiny together with string. Along the way, Minli
meets a variety of characters, including an orphan boy (Sebastian Wood), a
vindictive Magistrate Tiger (Bill Mootos), and most importantly, a flightless
dragon (Stewart Evan Smith) who becomes Minli’s ally and best friend.
While the collection of folk tales spans time
and space, and the parade of characters can feel a bit confusing at times,
especially for the younger audience members, Workman and Smith’s chemistry
helps to keep the audience focused. As the flightless dragon, Smith is
endlessly enthusiastic, giggling with delight at whatever he and Minli
encounter, and the friendship between the young girl and the dragon unfolds
naturally and believably.
Matthew T. Lazure’s tiered moonlit set and Dewey
Dellay’s atmospheric music help make the many transitions easy to follow.
While the book focused primarily on Minli’s
quest, the stage adaptation opens up to the many people whose lives Minli
touches. “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon” celebrates the importance of
family, from Ma and Ba to the larger communities Minli encounters.
Terry
Byrne can be reached at trbyrne@aol.com.
Caroline Workman as Minli and Stewart Evan Smith as the flightless dragon in “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon” at Wheelock Family Theatre.
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