A charming,
occasionally dark tale about how the moon got its phases, told with imagination
and skill.
by Joel Benjamin
The PigPen Theatre Company’s delightful The Old Man and the Old Moon
is a folksy tale which colorfully explains how the moon developed its phases.
It seems that once upon a time the moon was full each and every night, filled with
liquid luminescence by the Old Man before he dragged his tired bones home to
his much put-upon wife, the Old Woman. Without risking revealing the ending of
the play, it’s possible to say that the moon became changeable because the Old
Man finally kept a promise to the Old Woman and thereby changed the world forever.
However, between losing his wife and regaining her, the Old Man set out on an
epic adventure that included an inadvertent name change, a wild ocean voyage,
befriending a dog and other colorful characters (including one he meets inside
a fish!), and finally making his way home where he fulfills the afore-mentioned
promise to his wife.
Matt Nuernberger,
Melia Curtis, Gillen photos by Liz Lauren
This story is given brilliant life by seven multi-talented young men
who sing, dance, play instruments (many improvised seemingly on the spot),
manipulate shadow puppets and marionettes and inhabit scores of characters,
switching with breathtaking speed from one to the other. Arya Shahi plays the
overwhelmed shipboard cook, Cookie, with a humorously dejected look. Matt
Nuernberger plays Matheson who is the main narrator of the tale—and a crew
member—commanding both the cast and the audience to take the journey. Alex
Falberg makes a fetching Old Woman without going in for cartoon posturing.
Dan Wechsler was Mabelu, a crew member whose sad tale of losing his beloved dog,
whom he trained to catch fish, becomes one of many oddball, seemingly non
sequitur moments that actually make sense later in the tale. Ben Fergeson
played Callahan, a sailor, naively over-eager to go to war with a wide-eyed
juvenile quality. Curtis Gillen was Llewelyn, named after the war hero that
the Old Man is mistakenly assumed to be. As the Old Man, Ryan Melia was the
backbone of the play. Though clearly young and vigorous, he played the Old Man
with nary a wink, finding nuance and drama in a character that might have been
monotonous.
Watching this agile cast turn bits of rope and cloth into a sea-worthy
boat, or pretending that shoe-stretchers are the catch of the day or assembling
bits and pieces that, in the blink of an eye, become a young boy or an
energetic dog, is all part of the fun, stimulating the imagination of each and
every member of the audience who gasped, laughed and applauded.
The set, costumes and puppets designed by Lydia Fine were complex yet
folksy. The set was wooden and multi-leveled over which hung bottles and bowls
that magically lit up, eliciting one of those “aah” moments. Bart Cortright’s
lighting and Mikhail Fiksel’s sound design were important elements of the story
telling.
Stuart Carden—with the participation of the cast members—directed with
a feel for the rhythm and flow of the storyline.
The Old Man and the Old Moon
September 26 – October 13, 2014
New Victory Theater
229 West 42nd St., between 7th & 8th
Aves.
New York, NY
Tickets: 646-223-3010 or www.NewVictory.org
Running Time: 90 minutes, no intermission
More Information: www.pigpentheatre.com