Word: frogging
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Abandoned by all except his loyal servant (Laurent Ruseckas), the Frog Prince wanders through the forest, seeking a woman who will kiss and restore him to his human form. He chooses the beautiful milkmaid (Laura Dickinson), living nearby, as his target...
Mamet and director Noah Kupferberg have a common insight into the interpretation of the fairy tales: the characters in the tale might very well be aware of how insincere or even sarcastic they, and the other players, are being. The actors in The Frog Prince are playful--they take things less seriously than many audience members would expect. The prince, for example, is rightfully dubious when his servant tells him that he and his beloved fiancee are universally loved. "Sire," the servant says, "the people love her as yourself," and the prince rolls his eyes...
Jeremy Dawson spends a good portion of the The Frog Prince rolling his eyes. As the prince, he dispenses scads of flowery phrases he obviously does not believe or even understand. Dawson's facial expressions and zingy one-liners provide much of the play's humor. After his confrontation with the hag, he declares, "I've got just one thought to leave you with: Monarchy!" When the hag first demands the flowers from him, he refuses, taunting her with a juvenile, "Tough...
Particularly well-done is the scene in which the Frog Prince proposes, in frog form, to the milkmaid. Dickinson treats his ludicrous romantic proposals with the deepest seriousness. In contrast with Dickinson's straightforward dealings with people, Dawson's own seem particularly disingenuous...
Kupferberg deserves credit for his decision to stage The Frog Prince in a narrow outside patio. The sky at dusk provides a fitting backdrop for the action, and the characters incorporate us into the setting by making their enterances from behind the audience. The Herald (Christopher Davidson) also helps in this capacity--he introduces us to each scene with wonderfully realistic-sounding solos on an imaginary trumpet. Kudos also to the producer Valerie Nestor for the Mickey Mouse blankets distributed beforehand to ward off cold...