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June
27-August 12, 2007
Tuesday-Friday at 10:30 AM
Saturday at 12:30, 3:30 and 7:00
Sunday at
12:30 and 3:30
"Joy
-- it is a trampoline!"
- Robert Dion, Acrobatic choreographer
General and Mrs. Pinch lead
the Liberty Street kids in morning exercises and enforce a huge
book of rules. Imagine their horror when the Araboolies move
in! This eccentric, colorful, acrobatic, non-English speaking
family brings pets, music and games of Remote Tickle and Boola
Noola Ball. The Pinches declare war and summon the army! Only
the children can save the fun-loving Araboolies and finally allow
Liberty Street to live up to its name. Ages 4 and up.
Janet Stanford’s notes on The Araboolies
of Liberty Street
So often the books that we cherish most
as children and want most to see in the theatre seem to defy
translation to the stage. The fantastic features of many
of the greatest stories—with
their BFG’s and Borrowers, Giant Peaches, magic lamps
and flying dragons—suggest that they may live only in
the realm of our imagination. The Araboolies of Liberty Street
by Sam Swope at first seemed to be such a book. A cult classic
ever since its publication in 1989, this is the story of a
highly regimented community that is profoundly changed by the
arrival of a colorful and boisterous tribe of non-English speaking
newcomers, the Araboolies. The Araboolie’s language cannot
be understood. A magical transformation must utterly change
the appearance of Liberty Street within a matter of seconds.
And one of the houses must disappear altogether. You might
just decide, “It’ll never be a play.”
But at Imagination Stage, when there is
a story we want to tell, we don’t let little difficulties deter us. We look
for creative ways to problem solve. And in the case of The
Araboolies..., we have looked northwards to Quebec for a solution
to the challenge of dramatizing characters who don’t
speak our language but who must communicate vividly nevertheless.
Robert Dion, Artistic Director of DynamO Theatre in Montreal
has devoted his career to creating meaningful stories for children
that are told primarily through acrobatic movement. Audiences
who managed to catch Dion’s me me me… recently
at Imagination Stage’s EDGEfest will be delighted to
see these acrobatic techniques applied to our new all-American
musical, for which Dion will provide the acrobatic choreography.
International collaborations bring fresh imagery and innovation
into our art forms. And Imagination Stage is proud to be breaking
new ground with Dion in this world premiere production.
As for staging the impossible—poof! We have reengaged
many-time Helen Hayes Award-winning set designer, Jim Kronzer.
After seeing his visions for our Charlotte’s Web and
The Borrowers, we were confident that he’d be able to
make Liberty Street live up to the expectations of even the
most faithful lover of the original picture book.
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