“Slow and Steady Wins the
Stage”*****
by Elyse Orecchio (guest reviewer)
 |
| All photos: Keith Pattison. |
As with all productions at the New Victory, the fun starts way
before curtain time. Kids are invited to the lobby to learn about fables and the
morals they are known for. There’s something for every kid—the one who wants to
play an instrument in an enactment of a fable, the one who wants to take a deep
dive into Aesop lore, or the one who prefers to write a fable from scratch. I
am always impressed with the level of the staff’s commitment and engagement to
the educational pre-show programming.
Entering the theatre, we find the ensemble already on stage
interacting among themselves on stage, creating an inviting, communal welcome
in keeping with the performance that follows. It feels is as if we’ve been
invited to a village square to be told stories with minimal props and costume
pieces. The actors are elevated on an angled wooden platform and wear simple
(but adorable) items like a green shell or bunny ears (“The Tortoise and
the Hare”), or a cool lion mask (“The Lion’s Share”). The performers alternate
between playing marimbas on either side of the platform and portraying
characters from Aesop’s fables on stage, like the enchanting
musicians-turned-storytelling ants. Lungelo Ngamlana’s bright choreography adds
another layer of joy to the performance. 
Vibrant and exuberant as Aesop’s Fables is, parents ought
to heed the age recommendation of seven and up—it is, after all, the story of a
slave. On the run from his master Escallywags (Zamile Gantana), Aesop is on a
journey to Mount Olympus to ask Zeus for his freedom. Siphosethu Hintsho,
marvelously charming as Aesop, is the lone youth in a cast of adults. Little
ones might be upset seeing a child in chains about to be beaten (the boy
remains shackled throughout)—but happily, as part of the plot, he loses a link
in his chains with each lesson he learns from the animals he encounters!
In this way, the production is both silly and serious, like the
fables themselves. Just because Aesop’s plight is life-or-death doesn’t mean
the kid behind me won’t giggle “they’re in their underwear!” when the frogs
come out in costumes that do indeed look like unmentionables.
Of course, no production based on Aesop’s Fables would be complete
without a moral. Aesop learns that “liberty comes with responsibility”—in the
end, his first act of freedom is to show forgiveness to his former captors by
granting them their own freedom from the shackles bestowed on them by an angry
Zeus. 
I really appreciated my refresher-course on classic fables
reminding me to look before I leap and that where there’s a will there’s a way.
These stories, although familiar to me, were new to the young niece who joined
me. As a slave, Aesop was probably illiterate and these fables that originated in Greece circa 600 B.C. were passed down
orally (with known written accounts coming centuries later). Now, they are
retold to my niece through theatre (by a South African ensemble, at that!).
Thanks to groups like the Isango Ensemble breaking barriers on
what’s possible in storytelling, we don’t know how the next generation
will be taught Aesop’s fables. For me, it’s enough to know that they will.
Aesop’s Fables
New Victory Theater
209 W. 42nd St., NYC
Closed November 3
Elyse Orecchio studied musical theatre at Emerson College, acting at CUNY
Brooklyn College, and English Linguistics & Rhetoric at CUNY Hunter
College. She has worked in nonprofit communications for more than a decade. She
lives in Sunnyside, Queens, with her husband Joe, kids Theo and Melody, and
three cats. eorecchio@gmail.com @elyseorecchio