About working on Rumpelstiltskin...
A funny anecdote about the production...In my original scenario, there was a character called Till, the Village Idiot -- a reference to Till Eulenspiegel, the merry prankster from Germany. I had already conceived of Bruin-the-Bear as the skin character (tapping into the "bear and the maiden fair" rituals from this period). During early rehearsals, when we are still open to see where the wind takes us, we weren't really finding the right voice or spirit for the village idiot. I handed the actor, Beth Pearson, a kazoo. And had her communicate only through the kazoo. It worked like a charm! And before you knew it, Till became Bumble, the Humblebee...a second skin, and a special foil to Bruin the Bear. Like I always say -- never underestimate the power of a kazoo!
One of the elements that made Rumpelstiltskin such a fun show to work on was the opportunity it provided for digging into medieval customs and the traditions surrounding courtly romance. I had knights and damsels dancing in my brain for this one! Pantos like to poke a bit of harmless fun at modern culture, but they also provide us with a chance to live fantastically in the past...So, after my initial research into the origins of the Grimm tale, the Middle Ages emerged as the appropriate setting for a tale whose central motif of spinning -- so significant in medieval life -- was mixed with the magical element of spinning straw into gold. The Power of Names trope used in the fairy tale also conjured up the Dark Ages...
