Photo by Dan Norman
J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterpiece “The Hobbit” will be playing at the Children’s Theatre Company until April 14. Go and see two hours of excitement in this adaptation written and directed by Greg Banks. Altogether the show is two hours, counting the 20-minute intermission, but I count it all as excitement. I took my two grandsons, ages 6 and 10, and they were wide-eyed at everything. In addition to the great acting, music and effects, they loved reading all the quotes in the refreshment area.
The main character, Bilbo Baggins (Dean Holt), would love to stay home and drink tea, but he is strongly encouraged by the wizard Gandalf (Joy Dolo) to help the dwarves recover their mountain from Smaug, a terrifying dragon. It feels like poor Bilbo Baggins is coerced to embark upon a dangerous journey. Yet, he seems to accept the challenge, if somewhat reluctantly, until he ends up feeling quite heroic.
The lighting effects are thrilling, as is the music produced by Victor Zupanc and Bill Olson tucked into a corner of the stage.
The story is truly everybody’s story. Everybody would like to metaphorically “stay home and drink tea,” in other words, be safe and secure. But there are many difficulties in life that can’t be avoided so they have to confronted, and then when a person overcomes the many “dragons” and “dark caves” and “wars” of their life, they can rightly feel like a hero.
—Elaine Klaassen
