From the archives…

GRIMMS’ JUNIPER TREE (Renegade): Important Lessons to Be Learned

Based on the dark and disturbing folktales of the Brothers Grimm, James Stover’s original world-premiere adaptation for the Renegade Company, GRIMMS’ JUNIPER TREE, examines the role that didactic children’s literature plays in defining our moral judgments, our personal choices, and our character. By interweaving pieces of the iconic 19th-century “Hausmärchen” with a contemporary take on “Hansel and Gretel,” Stover redefines for our times the opposing forces of good and evil, the fear of strangers that is, with good reason, engrained in us from an early age, and the option we all have to decide to live “happily ever after.” Contrasting innocence with brutality, the time-honored morals are conveyed through a combination of storytelling, enactments, and shadow-puppets, as post-modern twins Hans (Shamus Hunter McCarty) and Greta (Rebecca Vail) make their way through the woods and encounter a sweet young boy (Griffin Stanton-Ameisen) abused by his wicked stepmother, a posturing princess (Dana Kreitz) fleeing the wrath of her murderous husband, and a diabolical imp (Matthew Mastronardi) spinning straw into gold for a miller and his daughter, in updated deconstructions of “The Juniper Tree,” “Bluebeard,” and “Rumpelstiltskin” (with minor references to “Tom Thumb,” “Cinderella,” and others thrown into the mix). more…