Walking into the in-the-round space, actors are already milling around the set that looks very crude and industrial, like some sort of fallout shelter, not the green and lush Shire one would expect. We soon find out we're in a community center 30 years in the future, after some apocalyptic event. We are gathered for some good old-fashioned storytelling, the only sort of entertainment available in this world. The actors play actors who are enacting this story for us, when the usual actors who do the story are unable to show up, reluctantly throwing them into a makeshift version of the story. This feels so real, so organic, because humans have been telling stories to each other since time began, and will continue to do so no matter what we are faced with. And why not one of the most popular stories of the 20th Century?! It reminds me of the time the power went out at the cabin, so for evening entertainment we read The Hobbit out loud to each other. The Hobbit is that kind of story, and I absolutely believe that it will withstand the test of time, and any apocalypse we may be heading towards. I last read the LOTR trilogy in 2020, and it was a great source of comfort and inspiration, as it is for these people in this dystopian future.
The play-within-a-play framework allows for lots of fourth wall breaking and participation, as we're occasionally recruited to make noises or throw things, particularly in the Battle of Five Armies in the second act. But first, we join Bilbo, Gandalf, and the dwarves on their adventure as they journey from Bilbo's cozy hobbit home, past trolls, over the Misty Mountains, through Mirkwood Forest, and finally to the Lonely Mountain. All of the plot points and characters of the novel are there, if in abbreviated form. And part of the fun is watching the cast scurry to play multiple characters, changing from one to another sometimes within a scene, with a wink to the audience as we and they are fully aware of what they're doing.
Scott Gilbert directs the play, with help from artistic advisors Noah Bremer and Mark Benzel from the physical theater world (you can watch Noah and friends reenact the entire LOTR trilogy in 8 minutes here). The result is a very physical telling of the story, as the cast runs up and down stairs and all over the space, and creates not just characters but shapes and objects with their bodies. The set feels very much like they're making due with whatever is available in this world - scaffolding, hockey sticks for swords, shuttlecocks for weapons, painted tin cans for treasure, etc. There's even a pantry supply shelf on one end of the stage, posters of other productions around the space, and a bulletin board listing events in the community. But even with this makeshift theme, the depiction of the dragon Smaug is really something, from a large wire dragon head to a small puppet flying on a stick (set design by Keven Lock, lighting design by Todd Reemtsma).
Everyone in the cast leans into this playful "we're putting on a show" spirit, with Isabelle Hopewell (the most reluctant of the "actors") being recruited to play our reluctant hero Bilbo, and all other roles played by Kelly Desireé, Nathaniel Brelsford, Derek Dirlam, Wini Froelich, Adam Iverson, Bryce Kalal, Troy Lowry Jr., Courtney Matula, and Sasha Rapacz. About seven of them do most of the heavy lifting of the story, while three are mostly in the band above one of the entrances playing any number of instruments and noise-making devices, but everyone takes part in the action at some point. While not a musical, there are a couple of charming hobbity songs played by the band and sung by the ensemble, with lots of fun sound effects, sometimes bolstered by recorded sound (sound design by Samuel Poppen and composition by Dietrich Poppen). The "actors" are dressed in casual utilitarian apocalyptic clothes, with hats or capes added to represent different characters (costume design by Constance C. M'allowince and Hunter Goldsmith).
The Hobbit has been delighting readers and audiences for nearly 90 years, with its classic hero story featuring the most unlikely of heroes, and I have no doubt it will continue to delight for 9 times 90 years into the future. Because sometimes it's not elves or kings or politicians that will save us from the evils of the world, we have to save ourselves. And even the King Under the Mountain will learn that he needs to let go of his ego, and his gold, and his power, and join with all the creatures of Middle Earth to defeat darkness before it destroys our world. That's a lesson we will never stop needing to learn.
Journey to Middle Earth via Theatre in the Round, complete with a non-alcoholic cocktail called "Pear and Back Again," and Hobbit-themed art by Jason Folkerts in the lobby. And for another fun and inventive take on fantasy storytelling, check out Swords & Sorcery by The Bearded Company, an improvised D&D fantasy campaign running in rep with The Hobbit this week/end only.
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| at Bilbo's house in Hobbiton (February 2020) |
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| hiding from the Nazgûl (outside Wellington, March 2020) |
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| on the road to Isengard (outside Queenstown, November 2013) |
