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The Post-Standard News
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May 18, 2007 'Dragon' is ambitious, has chunks of humor Joan Vadeboncoeur, Entertainment Columnist "The Dragon" ranks as Appleseed Productions' most ambitious and auspicious attraction of the season. Its director, William Edward White, has adapted the Russian tale by Yevgeny Schwartz, which was suppressed for years by the Soviet regime for its criticism of tyranny and oppression. But the work could as easily be applied to Adolph Hitler and Saddam Hussein as to Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. It is a scathing, if often funny, indictment of the abuses of power that do not necessarily disappear when a new, allegedly democratic, government is installed. After all, power corrupts. It begins in a small town where Lancelot (Allan D. Stillman), a warrior who travels the countryside to rid the populace of dragons, arrives in another small town. The switch there is the denizens have made peace with themselves - and the dragon - by permitting him to marry one of the town beauties annually. The wedding will cost her her life but will preserve those of the other townspeople. The young dragon-slayer is appalled, even more so when he discovers the mayor has gone goofy, as well as suffers from hypochondria. Yet the warrior stays since he has fallen in love with the fire-breather's latest bride-to-be, the lovely Elsa (Elle Fallon). But after the celebration for the dragon's death has died down, the people continue to be slaves with the now-recuperated mayor ruling the town with a fist of iron, if not the full powers of the beast. And there is yet another villain, a covert, power-hungry, skilled manipulator who has no feelings for anyone but himself. Still, the tale is not without substantial chunks of humor, starting with the mayor and including a pair of weavers, women who speak in unison. White also cut himself a second huge task by directing the large cast. He has chosen them and coached them splendidly. Among the standouts are Ted Davenport, who is hilarious, and later grasping, as the mayor, Rebecca Brown as the sensitive bride and Binaifer Dabu as an omniscient cat who sides with the dragon-slayer. White and Dabu have created a wise feline who crawls roofs and walls and never falters to convince as the character. The adapter-director also has assumed a third assignment, carving out a deft portrait of a nasty prison warden. Copyright © 2007 The Post-Standard. |
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