Stinky Flowers and the Bad Banana
by Croft Vaughn
directed by David
A. Miller
WTE Theatre at Under St. Mark's, New York, NY
October 7-24, 2010
Sam, Stu, and
Sinclair discover an audience in their attic. Clearly
these quiet strangers are going to eat them, so they
distract their guests with their grandfathers' stories.
They find the courage to create their own tale, and
discover the answer to, "Are we still loved after the
person who loves us is gone?"
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Review Excerpts: |
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"Though there is not a single
child in the piece, an impression of childhood is captured precisely
without being childish: the magpie collecting of treasures discarded
by grownups, how intimidating the world can be to an imaginative and
thoughtful child trying to navigate the complexities of a grownup
world, and the safety and security of the pure love of family to
help little ones through." (NYTheatre.com) |
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"Director David A. Miller does an
outstanding job with the play, keeping the pacing tight (very important
in children's theatre), but allowing the nuances of the script to shine
through." (Stagebuzz.com) |
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"It’s a good thing David A. Miller is such a great person, because
with smarts like his in the wrong hands, you’d have a Robert Moses
of Theatre. He’s the rare breed of artist who knows how to foster an
environment where magic can happen." (Playwright Croft Vaughn, in an
interview with
The Happiest Medium) |
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"Through proper use of its setting, clever use of its props, and a
large dose of pure imagination, Stinky
Flowers does a lot to bring the magic back into good
old-fashioned storytelling." (Theatre is Easy) |
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Review - Stinky
Flowers and the Bad Banana (WTE Theatre)
By Byrne Harrison
Friday, November 5, 2010
Stagebuzz.com
The mark of good children's theatre is its ability to
entertain (and hopefully engross) the kids, while still
being palatable to the adults. Playwright Croft Vaughn's
Stinky Flowers and the Bad Banana, adapted from
his one-man show, succeeds admirably. It is a charming,
and somewhat bittersweet play about life and growing up,
that will entertain children and adults and do it well.
Sinclair (Michael J. Connolly) is a dreamer with a
wildly active imagination. The attic is his playroom,
full of magical delights, including his imaginary
friend, Russell (Chuck Blasius), and Russell's imaginary
friend, Elizabeth (Dorothy Abrahams). When Sinclair's
rambunctious siblings, Stu (Robert James Grimm III) and
Sam (Lauren Sowa), intrude, Sinclair is shocked to find
out that they can see Russell and Elizabeth. Even more
alarming, the attic now contains an audience full of
people. Fearing that the audience might be made up of
cannibals, Sinclair and crew begin telling stories. And
that's when the play really gets good.
Vaughn's stories are terrific, and bring to mind Aesop's
fables or the Brothers Grimm. Full of stinky flowers,
hidden truths, warring tribes of monkeys, and
gunk-destroying fudge, his tales are delightful,
energetic, and have some nice life lessons.
One story, however, stands out. This is the story about
two birds and it directly relates to the loss of the
children's grandfather. It creates a sublime moment in
the play, especially through its use of drawings, and
while a little too quiet for the youngest children, it
is very touching.
Connolly, Sowa and Grimm are excellent as the siblings.
Grimm in particular is outstanding as the rough and
tumble Stu. He captures the manic energy of a
particularly physical child. Connolly excels in the
quiet moments, especially when dealing with the loss of
Sinclair's grandfather. Sowa is just a delight, but
never more than when Sam is exasperated or annoyed.
Blasius and Abrahams are terrific as Russell and
Elizabeth, at times acting as silly as the kids, at
others acting like adults (or more often as adults seen
through the eyes of kids).
Director David A. Miller does an outstanding job with
the play, keeping the pacing tight (very important in
children's theatre), but allowing the nuances of the
script to shine through. Production elements are strong,
with particular praise going to Scenic Designer Jennifer
Varbalow. She skillfully transforms the small stage at
Under St. Mark's into a jammed-to-the-rafters attic,
full of items to fuel a child's imagination.
My only issue about Stinky Flowers and the Bad
Banana is the timing of the shows. 8 PM is not an
easy time to get children to the theatre. I wish I could
have attended one of the Sunday matinee performances to
see if there were more children, and as a result, if the
interactive portions of the play worked better.
With luck, Vaughn's play will be brought back for a
longer, and hopefully earlier run.
Stinky Flowers and the Bad Banana
By Croft Vaughn
Directed by David A. Miller
Stage Management: Barbara T. Dente
Assistant Director: Lauren Heirigs
Scenic Design: Jennifer Varbalow
Costume Design: Bradley Erickson
Lighting Design: Kate Ashton with Sam Gordon
Music: Alana McNair
Animation: Matt Burnett with Double Blind
Video Design: Jeff Heyman
Press Representation: Emily Owens PR
Featuring: Michael J. Connolly (Sinclair), Lauren Sowa
(Sam), Robert James Grimm III (Stu), Chuck Blasius
(Russell), Dorothy Abrahams (Elizabeth)
Under St. Marks
94 St. Marks Place
Closed October 24th
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Stinky Flowers and the Bad Banana
nytheatre.com review
Wendy Remington Bowie · October 8, 2010
In Croft Vaughn's Stinky Flowers and the Bad Banana, three
kids, Sinclair, Sam, and Stu, along with their imaginary friends and the
imaginary friend of their imaginary friend, find an audience in their
attic, much to their surprise. They decide to tell us a series of the
children's Grandpa's fairy tales and through them reveal a complex and
delicate relationship with their mother, while discovering the tools
within themselves to begin to mend it.
The fairy tales are told in a delightfully theatrical style. The
conventions they use transform the small intimate space into the vast
variety of large and fully detailed worlds of the stories. As the actors
discover the audience and explore the abandoned fourth wall, the
opportunity for audience involvement and participation emerges, which
all the children (and heck, the grownups too) found entrancing and
exciting. There is a beautiful, homey, handmade aesthetic about the
piece. Sinclair, Sam, and Stu make their stories from the detritus of an
attic—packed away scarves, old hockey sticks, an overhead projector
(that was used with superb creativity and to great effect). The design
is realistic but simple and allows us to actively imagine the stories as
they are told.
I was mightily impressed with how the company held my three-year-old's
attention with the stories. However, I would definitely recommend the
piece for older children. The six- and seven-year-olds in the audience
seemed to do just fine throughout, but my littler one lost it for a bit
as the piece became pensive and quiet toward the end. But the first
words out of her mouth as we left the theatre were "When can we go to
the play again?" Also, the eight o'clock curtain time meant that on the
trip home I had a very grumpy girl on my hands which probably wouldn't
be as true for older kids. Though the story of the children is a
melancholy one, the balance with the charming fairy tales makes for a
very optimistic piece. The writing does not bend down to kids but meets
them on their level. And indeed the majority of the audience when we saw
the show were adults, who enjoyed themselves just as much as the kids.
Though there is not a single child in the piece, an impression of
childhood is captured precisely without being childish: the magpie
collecting of treasures discarded by grownups, how intimidating the
world can be to an imaginative and thoughtful child trying to navigate
the complexities of a grownup world, and the safety and security of the
pure love of family to help little ones through. The imaginative fables
have a great message and this play was a lovely way to spend an evening
with my daughter.
Website:
http://www.nytheatre.com/nytheatre/showpage.php?t=stin11212
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Stinky Flowers and the Bad Banana
by Croft Vaughn; Directed by David A. Miller
Theatre is Easy Review
by Markus
Paminger on 10.12.10
BOTTOM LINE: A play for
children and adults alike that takes us through some imaginative
fairy tales in the attic of a suburban family.
Stinky Flowers and the Bad
Banana evokes those special places many of us had growing up.
As children, we often have that seemingly secluded area - maybe a
secret alley, or a quiet part of the woods - where the troubles of
real life melt away and imagination reigns supreme. For the three
Turner siblings Sinclair, Sam and Stu (Michael J. Connolly, Lauren
Sowa and Robert James Grimm III respectively) growing up in the
Kansas suburbs, that place of magic was their attic. They spend
their days, wide-eyed and innocent among the bric-a-brac boxes and
discarded junk, with their imaginary friends (Chuck Blasius and the
wonderfully charming Dorothy Abrahams), and even their imaginary
friends' imaginary friends. In their attic, the Turner kids
repurpose familial items that no one else would find a use for,
conjuring wild fairy tales of monkey clans and gunk-filled villages,
of malodorous flora and prophetic young women. They're always eager
to find an excuse to tell these tales yet one more time, all the
while making sure their spelling is in tip-top form and proper
grammar is always used.
Stinky Flowers and the Bad Banana
is undeniably a children's show, although it is just as suitable for
those young at heart. It is performed with the deft and somewhat
dark professionalism of WTE Theatre. Walking down the cramped
stairway into the low-ceilinged and lobbyless Under St. Marks
Theatre, you and your child may have the same transformative effects
take over you that the Turner kids experience every time they enter
their attic. Through proper use of its setting, clever use of its
props, and a large dose of pure imagination,
Stinky Flowers does a lot to bring the magic back into good
old-fashioned storytelling. Scenic designer Jennifer Varbalow has
transformed the already small venue into a positively cramped hovel,
filled with all the shadowy nooks and crannies and dusty old
who-knows-what that spur the Turner siblings on.
The stories come fast and furious, as the audience takes on the role
of a new imaginary friend that needs to be caught up in their
repertoire. Once the mystery of our arrival has been sufficiently
unraveled, we plunge head first into the high-octane fast-paced
presentations that have old and young alike in giggles. But it's not
all fun and games throughout. Storytelling offers these children a
chance to escape, and some of the most moving moments of the
performances come when we begin to glimpse what it is they are
escaping from. The more serious moments are not so dark as to make
Stinky Flowers unsuitable
for younger audience members, but they do offer intriguing insight
into how children cope with adult issues before they are mature
enough to fully understand them. The Turner siblings deal with these
issues the way any child should, and the way grownups often forget:
with pure contagious fun. Bring the kids if you like, or just come
for some innocent laughs, as
Stinky Flowers and the Bad Banana offers a good time for
everyone.
(Stinky Flowers and the Bad Banana
plays at Under St. Marks Theatre, 94 St. Marks Place, through
October 24th. Performances are Thursday and Friday at 8pm and
Saturday at 3pm and 8pm. Tickets are $18 for adults and $10 for
children and are available at
smarttix.com or
by calling 212.686.4444
begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 212.686.4444 end_of_the_skype_highlighting.
For more information visit WTE at
www.wtetheatre.org.)
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Stinky Flowers and the Bad
Banana
Short and Sweet NYC Review
By:
Jonathan Zuckerman ·
Oct. 12, 2010
With a name like Stinky Flowers and the Bad Banana it’s
hard to formulate too many expectations. I knew it was a play and
from the press release I knew that the main characters were
imaginative children. This was indeed true but I was surprised that
a show with such a silly name was actually really good. Let me set
it up for you: You are a ravenous savage and what you thought was a
subterranean theater is actually at an attic in Kansas. The three
kids who live in that house, with help from their imaginary friends,
act out stories their grandfather told them to entertain you in
hopes that you won’t eat them.
The children are played by adult
actors but they capture the feel of being children perfectly. As
Sinclair, Michael J. Connolly is precocious and doesn’t really dress
like a kid but you never forget he is, whether he’s being driven
almost to tears from frustration or being picked on by his older
siblings. Lauren Sowa’s Sam has a hilarious outburst every time
someone refers to her saleswoman character as a salesman which will
definitely remind you of your sister or niece or some brat that you
know. The acting is fantastic across the board but the overall
concept is what makes it.
The kids act out a bunch of stories, which in my opinion get less
interesting as they go along, but as the show progresses the main
story takes shape. While the last story told is the simplest it’s
also the most affecting because of everything that comes before it,
and because it‘s mostly told in silence with visual aids. It’s
little details like those capture the sentiment that writer Croft
Vaughn is trying to convey. For instance, no kid today listens to
cassette tapes, or probably even know what they are for that matter,
but the story just wouldn’t be the same if the kids were fighting
over an iPod.
Stinky Flowers and the Bad Banana was originally staged
by Vaughn himself as a one man show. I have no idea what it was like
then but its hard for me to imagine the show without all the
wonderful actors and the colorful characters they bring to life.
Bring your kids and they will probably have a good time. Or don’t.
I’m in my twenties and I found it thoroughly enjoyable. Plus
everyone in the audience gets a vegan cookie! Yay!
Stinky Flowers and the Bad Banana will be
playing at UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Ave and
Ave A), until Octobe 24th. To reserve tickets and to get more
information, visit the website
http://www.wtetheatre.org/Site/WTE.html
Website:
http://www.shortandsweetnyc.com/2010/10/stinky-flowers-and-the-bad-banana-under-st-marks-until-octobe-24th/
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Stinky Flowers And The Bad Banana
Has Heart . . . And Cookies!
The Happiest Medium
by Karen Tortora-Lee on October 16, 2010
Don’t go near the stinky
flowers! warns the cast of
Stinky Flowers And The Bad Banana - but if you’re in
the mood for a children’s show that sits comfortably with adults as
well, you may want to ignore this advice and head straight for UNDER St.
Marks where you’ll be offered up great bunches of stinky flowers, along
with tales of bananas, Gunkerville, and birds; all told by army brats
who are used to moving around but who now must also learn to move along,
and ultimately move past.
Charmingly done by a cast of five
adults who channel their inner child, Stinky Flowers
was originally a one man show performed by writer Croft Vaugh. It has
now been parsed out to a very talented ensemble under the direction of
David A. Miller. Anchoring the story, acting as the heart, is sweet
Sinclair (Michael J. Connolly), who spends time double protected –
inside his attic and inside his head. In this attic he retells himself
stories that his grandfather had told him before passing on, while
furtively listening to a cassette of his mother singing. Sister Sam
(Lauren Sowa) and brother Stu (Robert James Grimm III) – a little older,
but not by much – soon come upon Sinclair and disrupt the quiet solitude
with rambunctiousness and rough-housing. Soon enough two imaginary
friends appear (Chuck Blasius and Dorothy Abrahams) – friends who seem
suspiciously old to be imaginary friends, until it becomes clear that
they’re pulling double duty as Grandpa and Mom when the storytelling
calls for it.
Soon enough these five are weaving
tales based on the ones their (much loved and much missed) grandfather
told them, all the while trying to persuade the audience not to eat
them. They use the bits and pieces they find around the attic as props
and costumes, and they sing and dance in the cramped space with the
enthusiasm of any group of kids wiling away the afternoon in the attic.
Anyone who grew up pre-Wii et al will recognize themselves in these
kids, and will reconnect fondly.
There are a few devices employed
and broadly played – this is, after all, a children’s play. Repetition
is key (although some jokes are repeated just enough times to have the
funny squeezed right out of them), and wide-eyed innocence abounds. The
“sweet” can range from bittersweet to toothache . . . and luckily moves
quickly along the sweet-o-meter so wherever your comfort level resides
you never have to squirm for too long. (I’m a bit of a dark horse, my
husband is more of a wide-eye innocent, and so the range perfectly
accommodated both of us). Some of the most resonant parts were the most
subtle, the quietest, which contain the least slapstick. However, there
was a little six year old girl who was convulsing in fits of laughter
behind me during the actual stinky flowers story in
Stinky Flowers, so Croft Vaughn definitely knows
how to connect directly to the heart of a child, not to mention the
funny bone.
Slowly, as the stories being told
by the children lead to stories the children tell about themselves, the
heart of the piece is uncovered and all the tales they’ve been telling –
about acceptance, about loss, about . . . gunk – begin to make a lot
more sense and take on the quality of metaphor rather than random tales
children tell, or re-tell. By the end the silliness has boiled away
leaving a lovely essence of Love in its wake. By the time the children
realize we’re not there to eat them they’re out of stories anyway – and
just in time too. Mom’s got cookies waiting.
Website. http://thehappiestmedium.com/2010/10/stinky-flowers-and-the-bad-banana-has-heart-and-cookies/
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