THEATER REVIEW - SUNDIATA
African king's tale is a classic
Saturday,  October 25, 2008
Margaret Quamme
FOR THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

(left to right) Kenyatta Foster as "Balla", Mamoudou Kane (right) as "Djata", the Lion King, and Pamela Hamilton as his "Nana."

      It's hard to recapture the feeling of hearing a fairy tale for the first time -- even for the youngest theatergoers.
      But Sundiata does it. Based on the oral history of a 13th-century Mali king, the story has extraordinary mythic potency, and the Columbus Children's Theatre production of the one-act play is so fresh and powerful that it makes one wonder why the tale isn't a childhood staple.
      Playwright Edward Mast has honed a long story down to its basics without sacrificing its complexity. Young Djata -- a disabled, speech-impaired child with a penchant for thievery and a tendency to hear voices that no one else hears -- is being raised in a small village by the woman he believes to be his mother.
      Then he is approached by a fruit-seller who hints that Djata has promise and helps the boy confront the evil sorcerer who has taken over the kingdom.
      Director LaJoyce Daniel-Cain emphasizes the intensity of the story: There's no winking at the audience here.
      Evil is a real threat. Daniel-Cain seamlessly melds stylized and naturalistic acting styles so that domestic realism coexists with heightened storytelling.
      Eighth-grader Mamadou Kane is remarkably self-possessed as Djata: He doesn't try to make the (at first) unlikable boy cute in any way and thus makes his transformation more compelling.
      Kenyatta Foster , who plays both the griot telling the tale and the fruit-seller who awakens Djata to his destiny,

Mamoudou Kane (left) as "Djata," and Caliph L. Scott (right) as "Sumanguru"

combines gravity and flair to give the play momentum.
      Pamela Hamilton, as Djata's foster mother, is down-to-earth, warm and believable, and Caliph Scott is imposing as the sorcerer.
      African drummers Devin Shaw, Harold Lee Jr. and Balla Sy -- visible at all times from a raised platform -- add to the atmosphere with percussive emphasis, and choreography by Serrita Lynn Sy bookends the action dramatically.
      Eric Lubkeman's rust-and-earth-colored set and vividly patterned costumes create a concrete sense of time and place, and Ryan Osborn's stark, shadow-filled lighting highlights the urgency.
      The action is scary enough that preschoolers should probably stay home, but older children and parents will be challenged and provoked by a story that bears retelling.
      Sundiata reverberates on cultural, political, spiritual and personal levels; and gains richness by not spelling out its metaphors but letting them touch theatergoers under the surface.

THEATER REVIEW - SWEENEY TODD
Young cast accents drama in line with bleak subject
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Margaret Quamme
FOR THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

      Once a year, Columbus Children's Theatre cuts loose from its mission of performing theater for young people to focus on a musical performed by young people but not meant for little children.
      This year's selection is a full-length production of Sweeney Todd directed by William Goldsmith, who makes good use of the pool of talent nurtured by the company through the years. Most of the actors are in college or in their final years of high school.
       The intense, macabre two-act musical benefits from a performance in the intimate space of the Park Street Theatre, where singers can take on Stephen Sondheim's demanding music without microphones and the chorus can confront the audience with provocative directness.
      At the center of the musical is the title character, a barber exiled to Australia under a false charge. When he returns home to London to find his family destroyed, he sets out to take bloody revenge on the judge who condemned him.
      David Bahgat makes a dogged, brutish and compelling Todd, and he handles the music with power and ease. As his partner in crime, Mrs. Lovett, Suzy Kohane deftly mixes superficial confidence and energy with a deeper insecurity.

Todd (David Bahgat) and his dead wife, Lucy (Kate Mock)

      Their duets, especially Epiphany and A Little Priest, reveal their relationship with remarkable complexity.
      Although their voices aren't as strong, Jason Brand is creepy as Judge Turpin and Harry Sanderson likable as Anthony, who is as hopeful as Todd is cynical. Valerie Reaper is innocently eager and sweet-voiced as Todd's lost daughter, Johanna, and Zachary Justus is touching as confused Tobias.
      The chorus is particularly strong: Many of its members could easily have taken on title roles, and together they provide forcefully dramatic commentary on the action.
      The production as a whole subordinates humor to drama, using occasional touches of wit for comic relief but more often relying on the humor to comment sardonically on the action.
      An eight-piece band lends complex and effective backing for the songs.
      A set dominated by unfinished wood and brick provides a suitably bleak context for the play, although, at Thursday's opening performance, crucial scenes set on the upper level were sometimes weakened by the clear and distracting presence of the band behind a thin scrim.
      The troupe recommends the production for children 13 and older -- which seems reasonable. Anyone who saw last year's bloody film version will be able to handle the musical, which has minimal gore.
      Even with its leavening touches of humor, and even when it goes deliberately over the top, this Sweeney takes its subject seriously and finds layers of tragedy that can't be easily dismissed.

• Columbus Children's Theatre will present at 7:30 tonight and 3 p.m. Sunday -- and 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays, through July 27 -- in the Park Street Theatre, 512 Park St. Tickets cost $10. Call 614-224-6672