By Bruce Chadwick
originally published: 08/13/2023
One of retiring artistic director Bonnie Monte’s swan songs for the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey is Classic for Kids, a series of three play readings spread over the beginning of the season. The series started August 12th with “The Little Prince,” the classic 1943 story by Antoine de Saint -Exupery, that has been adapted for the stage by Rich Cummins and John Scoullar.
People always have a hard time with staged readings. They are readings, not plays. However, the Classic for Kids series got off to truly flying start with a majestic showcasing of “The Little Prince,” a marvelous fiction story come to life at the Shakespeare Theatre’s home at Drew University, in Madison, with superb direction by Ms. Monte and delicious performances by all the actors.
“The Little Prince” is a story for kids of a prince who strays from planet to planet, including earth, and finds love and hate, tragedy and happiness. It was sold to 120 million readers since 1943 and in 2015 became an animated movie starring Jeff Bridges.
The play stays with the earth visit. It starts with an aviator trying to fix his plane, broken down in a desert. While working on it, he meets the Little Prince. The two fail to restart the plane and the little Prince charms the aviator. Jon Barker is wonderful as the aviator, who at first has no admiration of the prince (he does not know any ten-year-olds who can fix planes!) Then, in a series of nicely drawn stories, the Little Prince meets all sorts of characters and so does the aviator.
Through his meeting with the characters in the play (staged reading), the prince learns about love and hate and takes in a dozen intriguing stories about grown-ups’ triumphs and tragedies.
The feisty little man is the only real kid in the play. Everybody else appears to be 18 or older.
David Mattle, with long flowing black hair (no 1943 hairdos here), is a terrific little prince. He is helpful to all, encounters all sorts of odd people and shows that no matter where you are from, any planet, you can be a wonderful person. Mattle does a fine job as the prince, really impressive.
My favorite scene comes late on the play, when the prince encounters a man who is capable changing facial expression 4,000 time in a minute (seems like it).
Ms. Monte has done magical work here, making each of these characters, regardless of their age, a special person in the story. She also does fine work at getting all of the actors to work together in their small scenes. These small scenes, put together, make up the story, and the story is very appealing to all.
Is this the “Gone with the Wind” of children’s theater? No, but it is a really fine story brought to life by Ms. Monte’s rare talents as a director. And, well, 120 million readers can’t be wrong.
Other kids’ plays in this special staged reading series include “The Dragon King,” and “The Snow Queen.” “The Dragon King,” on November 4, is a Marionette Show staged by the Tanglewood Marionettes. The final production in the Classics for Kids series is Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen,” which will be produced Dec.16, just before Christmas.
In addition to Jon Barker as the aviator and David Mattle as the Little Prince, both superb, the talented cast included Dino Curia, Peri Gilpin, Isaac Hickox-Young, Greg Jackson, Caroline Leys and Billie Wyatt. Lighting was by Steven Beckel and the show’s drawings were by Ms. Monte. The production’s stage manager was Jenna Gregson. AC Horton was assistant to the director and the board operator was Kevin Gartley.
What struck me as important in this “staged reading” is that you simply would not know it is a reading. Oh, all of the actors had their scripts right in front of them, but the way that they move their heads and arms, and walk about the stage, is a way that makes you think they have memorized their lines and are delivering them as if they were in a regularly produced drama. This is one of the reasons this production was so impressive. The play was also staged so that it would be pleasing to adults. At the end of the show the kids in the audience were clapping, but so were the adults. They all enjoyed it.
Could the adorable Little Prince drop out of the sky into anyone’s life?
I just hope he doesn’t drop down on the Garden State Parkway at rush hour – he’ll ever get through the traffic.
About the author:
Bruce Chadwick worked for 23 years as an entertainment writer/critic for the New York Daily News. Later, he served as the arts and entertainment critic for the History News Network, a national online weekly magazine. Chadwick holds a Ph. D in History and Cultural Studies from Rutgers University. He has written 31 books on U.S. history and has lectured on history and culture around the world. He is a history professor at New Jersey City University.
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