An audience sprinkled with few adults and 300 children from Craven County schools provoked one of the strongest openings of the season, and this from a children’s troupe. Not one of the actors retelling the story of “The Pied Piper of Hamelin” was older than 18. Indeed, most were considerably younger by a decade.

More impressive was the “total communication” aspect of the production. With all lines signed as well as vocalized, the musical will be equally at home in Wilson, when the troupe performs at The Eastern North Carolina School of the Deaf, as they are on-stage in New Bern and in surrounding schools. Archie Rivenbark II, signing director, and Roxann Belrose, choreographer, deserve special merits for efforts here.

Far from being obtrusive, the signing in relation to the dancing, especially during large ensemble numbers, produced a unified liquidity that added rather than detracted from the performance. Whether such theatrical accouterment would so thoroughly enhance a non-musical production is debatable, but here the choreography and sign language work. Some actors might find such strictly scripted hand movements limiting, but done well in the confines of this musical, such oration was a pleasant addition for even those people unable to decipher sign language.

Although cast members — Cast B in this case; the number of local productions necessitated two groups — clearly had a solid grasp of sign language, some of the younger actors shifted focus from vocalization to hand movements, as if concentrating too hard at times on what their hands were doing. For the audience at the opening, that shift was unwarranted, but should be something easily resolved — especially given that this 9:30 a.m. performance was the first performance of the play’s two-week run.

Special merit is also extended to lighting techniques and direction. Bold lighting supplanted by well-placed spot-lighting, especially moving from narrators to players, served to surprise at appropriate intervals and build the aura of a fairy tale. In this same vein, set design, intentionally kept simple to make it transportable, was functional and allowed for audience interaction — read giggles and laughter — as “rats” continually peeked from unexpected crevices and crannies.

Costuming was on par with the best of any production this season and lent itself to the time period without appearing anachronistic. A bright stage adorned with equally bright costumes helped drive the magic of the production.

For all this, the musical was not perfect. Some of the “rat” puns are overly cheesy. The youngest of actors sometimes looked too hard for stage direction, and line delivery in some instances was too emotive for the scene. Many members of the cast would do well to take direction from Von Lewis, who, as the mayor of Hamelin and a NBCT staple, gave a leading and admirable performance.

Rounding out the production with a well-played score by pianist Jim Hayes, there was much to like in this rendering of the classic tale of honesty and integrity. And much to take home, not the least of which is the education gained by children and adults alike, in the words of the Mayor of Hamelin: “I for one have learned a valuable lesson; a promise made should be kept.”

This StageHANDS production is one of promise. These young actors, giving voice to a community seldom heard from, have much to teach us.

By Tom Mayer
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