I found Babes in Toyland to be an excellent performance. I appreciated the dancing and acting skills of the performers in this production. This performance differed from the traditional performances that I am used to seeing. In this production, all of the actors were silent. There was no speech throughout the entire performance. This came as a surprise to me at first, I was expecting something completely different. My fiancé and our friends were rather disappointed at this silence, but I found the production just as good as any other, if not better. I was impressed by the talent of the performers. They used excellent gestures and emotions that made the acting, entertaining and interesting.
In the first scene all of the characters danced around the stage, like an introduction. It was interesting to see all of the characters from Mother Goose Village. The costumes were very detailed and they helped you to identify who each character was. My fiancé said that she really enjoyed the dresses that the performers were wearing. The characters gathered to hear Mary and Tom’s engagement. It wasn’t until after this scene that I realized this production was going to be silent. In the following scene, Gonzaga and Rodriga try to kidnap Tom after Tom has finished saying good bye to Mary. I felt that Mary and Tom did an excellent job portraying their love for each other. I also thought that the best dancing scenes featured Mary and Tom. I thought it was funny Mary wore her hair in a side ponytail with lots of curls because my fiancé also wears her hair like that. Barnaby is in love with Mary, therefore he tells Gonzaga and Rodriga how to kidnap Tom. I thought the scenes with Gonzaga and Rodriga were extremely amusing. These two performers both played their parts really well. They used a lot of gestures and put a lot of emotions to the performance. This also made it easier to understand what was happening during the performance. I think that they were the most entertaining characters. Their performances were two of the best in the entire show. Barnaby was also very humorous. Surprisingly, Barnaby’s character was actually played by a female performer. In fact, all of the roles, with the exception of Tom, were played by females. I think that the performers did an excellent job of disguising their characters and playing good parts. Barnaby wore a large hat which aided in his disguise, making it easy to forget the actor was actually female. In the third scene Gonzaga and Rodriga are supposed to throw Tom into the sea as Barnaby had instructed. However, they give Tom to the gypsies because they both find Tom appealing and are having a hard time with Barnaby’s instructions. A letter than arrives for Mary. The letter is from Tom stating that he no longer wants to be with her. However, the letter is actually from Barnaby. The letter arrives at a surprise wedding shower where Mary is surprised with a wedding dress from her friends. Mary’s friends leave after the letter arrives. It’s no surprise that after all this happens Barnaby appears at the door. He offers to marry Mary instead of Tom, but Mary refuses. Then, Little Bo Peep rushes in saying that all the sheep have ran away and that without them they will have no money to pay Barnaby the rent. Unfortunately, Mary is forced to marry Barnaby. At this point in the production I became a little confused. The actors did a good job with their acting, but without words some of the things were very unclear. I was unsure why Mary had agreed to marry Barnaby after saying she didn’t want to. It wasn‘t until after I read the program that I realized the sheep were lost. If I had not read the program I think there would have been a lot of unclear things that I did not understand. I think that others also felt the same confusion because my two friends and fiancé agreed that certain things were confusing. I think the biggest weakness of the performance was the misunderstandings it presented. After Mary agrees to marry Barnaby, Barnaby decides to hire a gypsy caravan to entertain everyone at the announcement of their engagement. Tom is dressed as a fortuneteller, but later reveals himself. Mary is excited to find out the truth that Tom never wanted to leave. Later, Mary and Tom find a letter from the children of Mother Goose Village saying that they are going to the Forest of Never Return to find the sheep. Mary and Tom go to the forest to rescue the children. In the forest the performers were dressed as trees. The trees swayed in the wind and tried scare Mary and Tom. I thought this scene was creative. The music in this scene was different from the other scenes. I liked the eerie music and the change in tone of the play. I think the performance could have added some different music throughout the show. I think a change in music here and there could have added to the performance. Mary and Tom find themselves in Toyland after they make it through the Forest of Never Return. They are than reunited with the other children from Mother Goose Village. The children sadly tell the toymaker about their lost sheep and the toymaker replies by telling the children that the sheep have come to Toyland. Finally the children have found the sheep. The toymaker’s assistant shows everyone her new invention as a way to celebrate. Her new invention is a shrinking gun. Everything is going well until Barnaby shows up. Tom and Barnaby then fight over the gun. This scene is one of the best scenes in the performance, in my opinion. The two actors move vigorously back and forth as they struggle to win the gun. I found this performance convincing and entertaining. Finally, the gun is knocked out of the hands of both Barnaby and Tom and the toymaker shrinks Barnaby.
Just as in the beginning, everyone dances around after the Toyland scene. Everyone in the audience began to clap and cheer. I turned and asked my fiancé why everyone was clapping. She said it must be the curtain call so we started to clap too. However, after that the performance continued and another scene occurred where Mary and Tom were married. The real curtain call began and everyone danced around the stage again just as they had only several minutes before. My fiancé and I laughed at the fact that everyone tried unintentionally shortening the performance by rushing the curtain call.
In conclusion, the overall performance was very likable. I enjoyed the change from the traditional plays. I found that the costumes and the characters were well thought out. The strongest aspects were definitely the dancing and the acting through gestures and emotions. In my opinion, the weakest aspect was the confusion because of lack of speech. I also found the setting and lighting were kind of weak. The lightening was dim and dark. I think a well lit setting would have enhanced the performance, especially because the performance carried a cheerful tone. There was not a lot of scenery or a well developed set. I think it would have added to the performance to add some more color and better scenery. Some extra things could have added to the total production. Nevertheless, the performers were all extremely talented individuals whose overall talent could be seen.
