“A Lot of Learning to Do”***
By
Elyse Orecchio (guest reviewer)
I’m a little embarrassed
to admit I’d never heard of a trilobite. Worse, I thought it was a made-up term
for Collaboration and Flint Repertory Theatre’s production of Riddle of the
Trilobites, presented at
the New Victory Theater.
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| Riddle of the Trilobites. All photos: Alexis Buatti-Ramos. |
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| Riddle of the Trilobites. |
Of course, the rest of
our learning happened at the show itself. This musical, written by Geo Decas
O’Donnell and Jordan Seavey (book and lyrics) and Nicholas Williams (music),
uses exquisite (not to mention adorable) puppetry by Amanda Villalobos to
explore this era, which predated dinos, ooga-booga hominids, and anyone else
you typically associate with the land before time.
The stage is a pleasure
to look at thanks to some truly transformational lighting achieved by Eric
Southern. It’s molting day, and adolescent trilobite Aphra (a delightful Sibiso
Mabena) discovers she has markings that set her apart from her fellow
creatures. This launches a journey for her and her bestie, Judomiah (a
wonderfully animated Richard Saudek), to solve the meaning of the titular
riddle: trilobites cannot live but they will not die. Aphra’s realization that
the trilobites will live on as rock (fossils) culminates in celebration.
This ambitious
production touches on a lot of themes, such as fear of the unknown, climate
change, self-discovery, and species extinction. Educational, yes, but it’s a
bit much and a bit long. At almost an hour and a half, the young audience at
the performance I attended was restless toward the end.
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| Riddle of the Trilobites. |
While Riddle of the Trilobites perhaps lacks
the sophisticated storytelling of The Pout-Pout Fish,
another aquatic puppetry musical, seen earlier this season, the script, riddled
with dad jokes, gets lots of laughs from young theatregoers.
Natalie reported that it
was the most special day of her life. Okay, she is six and prone to hyperbole,
but I can’t overstate the importance of exposing children to good theatre. And
now that I know all about the fascinating trilobites, I can’t wait to show off
to the troglodytes at my next dinner party.
New Victory Theater
209 W. 42nd St., NYC
Closes February 23
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 and lives in Sunnyside, Queens. eorecchio@gmail.com IG: @elyseorecchio
