Director Sam Wootten and his cohort of actors and designers are currently showcasing their 60+ minutes production of Timothy Mason's witty adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen classic, The Emperor's New Clothes at the Cloverdale Playhouse.
Set in a fairytale land where the reigning Emperor's [James Avery] narcissism tests his counselors', and indeed the entire population's, unquestioned loyalty to his every whim, or risk losing their heads. Believing he has impeccable taste in fashion, he changes clothes every hour, demanding admiration from them all.
Enter two con-artists -- Roscoe [Jalan Pedonesi] and Flo [Mason Stevens] -- who attempt to bilk the Emperor of a fortune by promising to create the most fabulous wardrobe that can only be seen by the most intelligent and discerning individuals, and that only the fools can't see the wardrobe. -- They go on to "create" these new items, relying on everyone to pretend to see the new clothes so they won't appear to be fools. -- Lots of silliness punctuates a series of episodes they bring us to the final resolution where the Emperor parades around almost naked, much to the horror of the citizenry, until a Boy [Carson Campbell] exclaims the truth..."the Emperor has no clothes".
So many useful lessons for the target audience of children to be learned: the pitfalls of vanity and peer-pressure, and the value of honesty, are important at any age; and while this production does not overtly mention it, it is easy to draw correspondences to the contemporary political scene for adult audiences to ponder.
Mike Winkelman's inventive sets get a bit cumbersome as they shift from scene to scene, but that's a minor issue here; Katie Pearson's costumes are colorful and "fairytale" appropriate; and the ensemble of adult and youth actors commit lots of energy and inventiveness to their respective roles.
Come for the story, come for the lessons, come for the laughs, come for the family-friendly entertainment offered by The Emperor's New Clothes.
