Little Crickets (Foundry Theatre) 2011 SummerWorks Review

Little Crickets at Factory Theatre was interesting, sophisticated and thoroughly engaging. Set in 1990 Paris, we follow two Romanian sisters who have fled the revolution to find a new life in the city. It’s apparently based on a true story that transpired between two Romanian girls and a man they met at La Fleur en Isle Cafe. 

As soon as  the doors open we see one of the three main characters, Peter Nelson, already onstage and completely in character. He sits at a small table reading the paper at what appears to be a cafe. There is a waiter who pops in and out cleaning glasses and smoking cigarettes. I really enjoyed having something to look at while waiting for the show to start; it also helped set the mood.

I have to say that everyone in this production was amazing. The acting was spot on and the accents were so believable and well done. Even the waiter/butler who doesn’t say much conveys so much through his expressions.

All of the characters had the top half their faces painted white. The scene opens with the two girls and the man, Mr. Smith, chatting at a cafe. It is clear that these girls are young and have no money or a place to stay. They go home with the charming Mr. Smith who shows them the sights and sounds of Paris, but of course there’s a price and a choice.

There was a screen with images projected behind the characters onstage which really made me feel like I was in Paris. It changed from a sidewalk cafe to the view of a river from the apartment to famous paintings at the Louvre . I thought this was really imaginative and fun to watch.

The set was quite inventive. The props and furniture transformed into so many different things and were changed so frequently that it was almost as interesting as the dialogue. For example, there was a bed that turned into Louis XIV’s grave. Genius.

There was a subtle darkness to this show and it’s very different from anything else I have seen in a while. The end is open to your own interpretation which I usually hate, but it worked perfectly in this show. I would highly recommend this piece.

Details:

Little Crickets plays at the Factory Theatre Studio

Performances:

Thursday August 4th 10:30 PM
Saturday August 6th 8:00 PM
Monday August 8th 5:30 PM
Wednesday August 10th 8:00 PM
Friday August 12th 10:30 PM
Sunday August 14th 3:00 PM

Photo credit to Diane Misaljevic. In photo: Shaina Silver-Baird and Nicole St. Martin