Puff the magic dragon is making a brief appearance with the Red Branch Theatre Company in Columbia, and the result is an enjoyable evening of children’s theatre.
In truth, this version of Puff—which is loosely adapted by Mike Kenny from the well-known song by Peter Yarrow and Lenny Lipton—is more the story of little Jackie Paper and his Auntie (who hides a warm heart beneath a curmudgeonly exterior). Jackie’s father has fallen ill, and Jackie is sent to live with his aunt in her remote cottage by the sea. Except the sea is shrouded in fog day and night, there’s no wind on the beach to fly kites—there isn’t even a phone to order pizza!
Auntie tells Jackie the fog is really steam from a dragon named Puff, and soon Jackie is seeing the friendly creature everywhere he goes. Director Robin Schwartz uses a rotating set (painted green and purple by Dan Van Why) and a rainbow of lighting effects (designed by Allison Ramer) to transition seamlessly between the world of Auntie’s cottage and the world of Jackie’s imagination, and the actors dive enthusiastically into the material.
Stephanie Lynn Williams, who plays Auntie, is also the evening’s narrator, making subtle adjustments to her posture and voice as she shifts in and out of each role. Ryann Lillis is charming as Jackie, playing equally well off Williams in the more realistic scenes and Puff in the more fanciful ones. (I did wonder why Red Branch didn’t simply turn Jackie into a girl—it would have required little more than a few changes in pronoun.)
Puff, of course, is the star of the show, and puppet designer Dave Scalzi and puppeteers Jena Frick and Vanessa Kinzey (who also plays Jackie’s mother) serve him well—their Puff is a sweet-faced, steam-breathing delight, who swims across the stage like a sea snake and cuddles up to Jackie like a puppy dog.
On opening night, the audience of mostly young children and their parents seemed thoroughly engaged. There was a good deal of laughter, and several kids even waved “hello” and “bye bye” as Puff made his entrances and exits. Though the show is only 35 minutes, I do suspect older children would eventually grow restless—again, this isn’t a story about a boy and his dragon so much as it is about a boy and his aunt, and the “adventures” with Puff are fairly tame: Jackie meets Puff, Jackie feeds Puff, Jackie gets Puff to shoot steam (though one sequence features Puff flying directly at a pirate ship).
What the show does have to offer is a touching story brought to life by an energetic and imaginative cast and crew. There’s some humor, some suspense, and a very pretty score, into which musical director Aaron Broderick weaves a surprising number of variations on that famous melody. If you have young children, it’s certainly worth checking out.
Puff the Magic Dragon is playing at the Drama Learning Center, located at 9130-I Red Branch Road in Columbia, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 PM and Sunday at 2 PM and 6 PM, through April 5th. Tickets are $12. For more information, visit www.dramalearningcenter.com or call 410-997-9352.
