by Tom Boudrot
‘The Old Man and The Old Moon’ – By PigPen Theater; Director: Julia Deter; Music Director: Matthew Stern; Lighting Design: Ben Rush; Sound Design: James Cannon; Scenic Design: Baron E. Pugh; Costume Design: Brian Simons; Puppet Master: Veronica Barron. Presented by The Umbrella Stage Company, 40 Stow Street, Concord through Dec.5th.
As I watched The Old Man and the Old Moon I thought to myself, who wouldn’t want to see this mashup of so many of the really fun ideas in fiction and storytelling? The authors pull together some of our most beloved and entertaining concepts into one crazy quilt show that reaches far and wide. The hand of the Brothers Grimm can be felt as well as influences from such varied sources as JM Barrie’s Peter Pan, Homer’s Odyssey, and the stories of Oz and the Bible. There is such a wide range of sources to this work that it makes perfect sense to learn that the content of this stage performance was not created by one author or one musician but by PigPen Theater, a group that started as freshmen drama students at Carnegie Mellon School of Drama in 2007. They have since gone on to create works that have garnered awards and critic’s choice raves. It feels like everyone in PigPen Theater company got to contribute to The Old Man and the Old Moon. Where else can one find laughter, music, sea battles, puppetry, hot-air balloons, mythical cities of light, apocalyptic upheaval, ghosts, love’s devotion, mistaken identity… and a dog that catches fish on command, all in one story?
The piece is “uniquely theatrical in nature” as Brian Boruta, the producing Artistic Director points out. The performance encompasses a wide range of theatrical tools. The music is excellent and plentiful with nearly a dozen tunes. Shadow puppetry is used to great effectiveness to move the story along. The scene changes are frequent while maintaining the same stage: a multi-tiered platform that works well to suggest a ship’s deck and rigging, or a hot-air balloon. The performers are adept in their crafts of acting, comedy and music. The lighting is stylish and inventive but at times overwhelming, as many in the audience could be seen covering their eyes.
The story begins quietly enough with an old man (Jonathan von Mering) and his wife (Kayla Shimizu) sitting at home eating dinner together. But that’s the last of the normalcy as the story quickly rushes into bigger and more epic concepts, climaxing in an apocalyptic adventure. It is the story of a man determined to find his love and bring her back safe and sound despite having to face daunting perils and his own personal fears.
Along the way there are plenty of laughs and musical numbers to amuse and delight all ages. All the artists acted, played instruments and sang wonderfully in ensemble. Jonathan von Mering sang beautifully and transformed believably into an old man on stage in the titular role. I was delighted to see Kayla Shimizu back at the Umbrella in a bigger role than she had in The Last Wide Open which played this venue in September. She brought so much to that relatively small, non-verbal part, that I wondered how she would do in a larger role and she did not disappoint as the Wife and the Sea Captain. She brings humor to all her roles without breaking character.
It’s great to see audiences coming back out to support and enjoy their local theater. There was a huge increase in attendance compared to the last show here, but still plenty of good seats available. The Umbrella Stage Theater is easing people back into live theater by requiring proof of vaccination or recent negative test results, mandatory masking, and capping seating at half-capacity. For tickets and information visit https://theumbrellaarts.org/
