Little Crickets with a whip

SummerWorks adventures continued last night at the Factory Theatre Studio with Little Crickets (by Douglas Campbell, directed by Byron Laviolette, and produced by Foundry Theatre gals Elisabeth Feltaous and Nicole Grainger – and stage-managed by my pal Julie Florio).

Laviolette notes in the program that “Little Crickets is first and foremost a Post Modern parable.” Two teenaged sisters flee Romania to experience Paris and end up staying with a mysterious wealthy man named Mr. Smith. The temptations of Western culture, sexual desires and shifting power dynamics that result are portrayed in a stylized manner (for instance, the actors all have painted on white masks, covering the top half of their faces), both drawing in and distancing the audience – piquing curiosity and also creating a sensation of revulsion.

This all makes for some challenging work for the cast, featuring Peter Nelson, Nicole St. Martin and Shaina Silver-Baird as the three main characters, with support from John Calvin Kelly (playing Number 4, multi-tasking as waiter/butler/museum guard – and is it the same man in all cases?), and Chrissi Chau and Vanessa Orford as Mr. Smith’s two silent doll-like playthings. These guys pull it off and then some – nice work all around in the telling of this complex tale of two girls gone through the looking glass from one abomination of a civilization to another.

This show will definitely leave you thinking and discussing afterwards. Oh, and if you feel funny in your pants and creeped out at the same time, don’t worry – that’s how I felt too.

Little Crickets has two more performances at the Factory Theatre Studio: Friday, August 12 @ 10:30 p.m. and Sunday, August 14 @ 3:00 p.m.

For more info on Foundry Theatre, check out their website: www.foundrytheatrecompany.com