How do
you create good theater when you don’t have big budgets and a huge stage? You do what Director Dee Shepherd has done
with SRO’s current production of “Big River”. Eliminate the frills and tell the
story with simple staging effects and capable, energetic folks who can sing and
project themselves into Mark Twain’s tall tales about the
adventures of Huck Finn, his slave friend Jim, and the many country folks who
touch their lives.
Of course it helps when you have capable people
with rich voices like Caleb Baker (Huck Finn) and Brandon Buchanan (Jim), John
Feather (Judge Thatcher/ King) and Greg Zunkewicz (The Duke) and Thor Collard
(Pap Finn, Harvey Wilkes (Silas).
The band led by music director Chipper
Snow, works beautifully in blending the tunes and never overpowers the
voices.
There is no set. A few well-placed blocks and lighting effects
with excellent miming by cast members, create the sense of time and place.
Simplicity fits this piece well, proving
yet again that less can be more. The
rich characters and toe tapping, clap-along blue grass and beloved old gospel
hymns from Roger Miller can carry a show like this when you just stand back and
let it happen. Songs such as “Muddy
Water”, River In The Rain”, and “Waitin’ For The Light To Shine”, inspire
audiences and stay with us long past the final curtain call.
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