Fanciful tale teaches valuable life lessons

In most fairy tales the noble and pure heroes or heroines confront villains who are not only evil, but have no redeeming qualities. Hawaii Theatre’s weekend production of "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" is something of an exception. This Norwegian folk tale has some real-life subtleties despite its fanciful characters.

A mysterious white bear promises an impoverished peasant that his family could receive wealth beyond imagination in exchange for his youngest daughter. The girl, Karin, agrees to go live with the bear. But later she defies the bear, who is in reality an enchanted prince named Peder, and dooms him to marry the ugly daughter of a powerful troll queen.

The only way Karin can save the bear/prince is by making a long and dangerous trek to the troll queen’s castle that lies hidden somewhere "east of the sun and west of the moon."

Elettra Bresolin, 17, stars as Karin, with Isaac Ligsay as the bear/prince and Hawaii stage veteran Cathy Foy Mahi as the troll queen.

"The messages in the story are what make it universal," says the show’s director, CoCo Wiel. "Through the flaw of her curiosity, Karin goes through many challenges, and must discover what is important, before she can save Peder."

Wiel adds that this isn’t a Norwegian version of "Beauty and the Beast."

"Peder is not an innocent victim of the enchantment," she explains. "It is his greed and love for clothes and jewelry, something that the trolls could provide him, that made him prey to enchantment."

And, no, this is also not one of those modern faux-traditional fairy tales written simply to empower young girls. Hawaii Theatre Center Education Director Eden-Lee Murray notes that the story is several hundred years old and is an introduction to a culture distant from Hawaii.

Murray said she tries to "offer children a glimpse and insights into cultures that they might not otherwise get to experience" as she selects productions.

"Between the music, the costumes and the Scandinavian take on this story, I think we are absolutely accomplishing that goal," she said.

The story holds a multitude of lessons for young audience members. "Karin’s experiences show kids the importance of learning to rely on oneself in the face of adversity, owning one’s mistakes and doing whatever possible to set them right, and that actions have very real consequences. And that even when things seem to be at their very darkest, there is still hope, and help can come from the most unlikely places," Murray said.

Help for Karin comes from the four winds — each of them with a unique and colorful personality — and from a group of enchanted Norse gargoyles.

And, don’t spoil the surprise for the youngest keiki, but Murray says it is going to snow inside the theater.

A study guide is available. at www.hawaiitheatre.com.

Peter Pan’s early days come to life on stage

Every American kid knows the story of the eternally youthful Peter Pan and his adventures in Neverland with Wendy, John, Michael, Tinkerbell, the Lost Boys and a host of colorful characters created by Scottish writer J.M. Barrie more than a century ago. 

Since then, the story has been stretched to include sequels ranging from the grown-up Peter Pan story “Hook,” which starred the late Robin Williams in 1991, to the current Disney preschool cartoon “Jake and the Neverland Pirates,” which imagines what happened after Wendy, John and Michael left Neverland and returned to London. 

Manoa Valley Theatre is offering kids and Peter Pan fans of all ages a musical prequel to the classic story with the Hawaii premiere of “Peter and the Starcatcher,” adapted from a similarly named novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson.

“I think we all remember when Peter Pan first came into our lives, whether it was watching Mary Martin on television or the Disney cartoon or somewhere else,” MVT Producing Director Dwight Martin said. “The sparking of imagination and creativity is something everybody can enjoy, and this story is a wonderful adventure.”

MVT Associate Producer Bree Kale‘a Peters’ cast of 13 portrays more than 100 characters in this origin story that sets out with a voyage to Rundoon. Several of the characters will be familiar to Peter Pan fans but assume different forms in this story. 

Peter does not yet have the ability to fly. Captain Hook still has both hands and goes by the name of Black Stache. And one of the ships is commanded by Capt. Robert Falcon Scott, a real-life English hero who took his ill-fated expedition to the South Pole in 1912.

The story also includes a secret mission, scheming pirates, skullduggery with steamer trunks, a volcano named Mount Jalapeno, a mermaid named Teacher, a island native chief named Fighting Prawn and a mysterious substance known as “starstuff.” 

Children will enjoy seeing a kid accidentally eat a handful of worms, watching a pirate vomit into a bucket and by the discovery that although Molly is a perfectly respectable girl’s name in English, in the island natives’ language it means “squid poop.” 

Kids may probably also enjoy the basic “boys will be girls” schtick of having one of the major female characters played by a man. 

Adults can look forward to some imaginative word play. For instance, two characters communicate using Norse Code (a system developed by the Vikings a thousand years ago), another enjoys alliteration, and Black Stache is said to be prone to malapropisms and anachronisms.