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Review: 'Sneetches' dark and multi-layered in five-star kindergarten performance By
Will Bettmann
Sylvester McMonkey McBean, center in top hat, is the center of the action as Mrs. Coulombe's kindergarten class performs to a packed house Friday. / Photo by Will Bettmann Mrs. Coulombe's kindergarten class at Edith Bowen School in Logan pulled off a theatrical coup Friday afternoon with its one-engagement-only performance of Dr. Seuss' Sneetches. As most serious theater-goers know, Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel) wrote Sneetches during a particularly dark period in his life, having just been released from a long stretch in prison. [sarcasm alert! sarcasm alert!] The narrative revolves around the conflict between the the Star-Belly Sneetches, who have bellies with stars, and the Plain-Belly Sneetches, who have none upon thars. As the narrator, (intelligently and subtly played by Emma Jackson-Smith) poignantly states in the opening scene, "Those stars weren't so big. They were really so small. You might think such a thing wouldn't matter at all." The truly pivotal role in this play, of course, is Sylester McMonkey McBean, an anti-hero in the true Holden Caulfield sense. The role was admirably played by understudy Evin Brown, filling in for Milo Osterman, who suffered a last-minute playground injury. On a side note, many Hollywood insiders believe that Marlon Brando would not have been cast as the lead role in The Godfather movies had it not been for a playground injury. Brown managed to capture all the cynicism and pathos of McMonkey McBean, who swindles the sneetches out of all their money with his "Star-On" and "Star-Off" machines, but leads them, in the end, to a deeper understanding of their own true sneetchiness. I won't spoil the ending, but I would urge you to go see this play when it next comes to town. However, I can offer no guarantee that you will see a performance as intense and layered as the one I was treated to.
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