Word: beare
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...HAVE a great fondness for Edward Bear, and a special reserve pot of honeyed appreciation for any mention of him that comes my way. Although Winnie is one of the most lovable and engaging bears I've ever known, most other people leave him behind when they slough off childhood, and outright reminders of him grow few and far between...
...though, had more than his fair share of abuse by unscrupulous promoters in recent years. Being the unassuming (and somewhat thickheaded) bear that he is, he has not protested when snatched up by entrepreneurs to be their moneymaking lure. Sears salesmen palm off bogus Poohs on cups, cereal bowls and children's clothes. In his Pooh Perplex, Frederick C. Crewes uses Winnie as a straw bear to be analyzed in every way imaginable in a parody of literary criticism. Walt Disney latched onto the Pooh image in an hour-long cartoon, but substituted Hollywood caricatures for Shepard's illustrations...
Thus, it was quite a fair shake, and welcome slake to my bear thirst, to see the Harvard Yard Players' production of "Winnie-the-Pooh." Lehman Hall turned into a huge livingroom, and Pooh and friends entered when Milne began telling a story for Christopher Robin. The atmosphere was warm and informal, because there was no stage to separate the actors from the first ring of children seated on the floor. This close range prompted almost spontaneous audience participation. The actors introduced themselves in individual conversations with the children, shook hands, danced and even had two of the children help...
Although I longed for the genuine Edward Bear to step forward and come alive from Shepard's drawings, Lisa Conley, who played Winnie, did not let me be too disappointed. Her facial expressions were charmingly Poohish to a great degree, and her snores were unmistakably from the bear himself. Eeyore, the old grey donkey, played by Divinna Snyder, was also portrayed convincingly. She spoke her lines with the exact tone of lovable melancholy that Milne gave to the original Eeyore...
...children's response, as they craned their necks to see above the performers' knees, the action held their attention, keeping the excitement level high. But Milne's Pooh seemed rather out of place among all this activity. Although this pace was for the children's benefit, Edward Bear is actually a more slow-moving, peaceful character, with plenty of time for ambling in the forest to offset his adventures and mishaps...