Rapunzel

by Max Bush

3 men, 3 women. Open stage setting suitable for touring. 50 minutes. Ages 4 to 9. $ 6.50

It's a rare playwright who can take a fairy tale and simply let its stark and powerful dramatic events speak for themselves. In Rapunzel, Max Bush does. Rapunzel has the strength of a pure fairy tale, purely told. Magic events--a young woman's craving for rapunzels, a witch's curse, a man's enchantment, even the birth of twins--require no explanation or embellishment, and receive none.

The strong narrative leads from the longing of a man and his wife for a child, and their harsh bargain with a witch who takes the child away to an enchanted tower. Though many events are stark, told in powerful images, they are also told with warmth and wit. Rapunzel and her Prince are delightful; even the witch has an appealing quality that does not detract from her power to curse and destroy A first-rate choice for touring to young audiences.

A professor at Vanderbilt University offered "compliments to the parents who attend this production [of Rapunzel] and wisely used the opportunity for discussion that this piece affords them. Theatre is at its best when it challenges our perceptions rather than confirming them, when it raises questions rather than answering them." This, of course, is what Rapunzel does.
Scot Copeland
Nashville Academy Theatre