tom sawyer

Theater Review | Connecticut

In ‘Tom Sawyer,’ Homage to Childhood

By ANITA GATES

Published: April 15, 2010

There is a dead cat in Hartford Stage’s “Tom Sawyer.” Huckleberry Finn carries it around for a while for no good reason. But the animal (fake, of course) is strangely cute, like one of those puppets Craig Ferguson plays with on “The Late, Late Show.”

For me, that was the first of many substantive surprises in this sassy, ingeniously staged and deeply affecting world premiere of an adaptation of Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Laura Eason.

Like many girls before me, I grew up thinking of “Tom Sawyer” as a book for boys. Very “snips and snails and puppy dog tails.” What did we care about a mischievous boy always playing hooky, running away from home, hiding in the graveyard or tricking others into doing his chores, like painting a fence?

This “Tom Sawyer,” however, is playing for much bigger stakes, just as Twain’s book did. It is going after the heart of childhood, the part most of us — except the poets and philosophers, maybe — lost touch with a while ago. (Thornton Wilder and “Our Town” came to mind more than once during the opening-night performance.)

Maybe actors, too, have the ability to reconnect with what is grand and glorious in childhood. This cast of 10 — all but one making his or her Hartford Stage debut — seems to do just that.

You will not find any children in the “Tom Sawyer” ensemble, directed with exhilarating artistry by Jeremy B. Cohen, Hartford Stage’s associate artistic director and director of new play development. But the young men and women who play Tom (Tim McKiernan); his co-conspirator, Huckleberry Finn (Casey Predovic); his love interest, Becky Thatcher (Louisa Krause); his brother (Chris Bowyer); and everybody’s pal Joe (Joe Paulik) embody the innocence, hopefulness, energy, belief in magic and large capacity for terror that coexist so briefly in every lifetime.

And even in idyllic 1840s St. Petersburg, Mo., there is good reason for terror. Tom and Huck witness a murder, in fact. Indian Joe (Teddy Cañez), a local criminal, stabs young Doc Robinson (Mr. Bowyer) but puts the blame on gentle, dim Muff Potter (Erik Lochtefeld).

The boys’ desperate situation is twofold. If Indian Joe discovers what they saw, he will come after them. But if they remain quiet and let Muff be sentenced to hanging, they will have betrayed the kindest and meekest of their fellow men.

Tom and Huck have occasional brushes with grown-up authorities outside the home, most portrayed by actors doubling in those roles (a minister, a schoolmaster, lawyers and a judge). But it is Tom’s loving but strict Aunt Polly and the Widow Douglas, both played with quiet excellence by Nancy Lemenager, who truly stand for the values of honesty and responsibility.

And the boys have developed scruples of their own. In their small-town world, church and its moral lessons are a dominant part of everyday life. (What is even cuter than the fake cat? The half-dozen or so congregation members, made of mannequin torsos, sitting in the pews bowing and bobbing their heads.)

The mannequins are just one manifestation of this show’s clever staging.

The painting-of-the-fence scene seems to be accomplished completely by Robert Wierzel’s lighting design. Slat by slat, the fence is bathed in white light. At the beginning of Act I, the scenic design, by Daniel Ostling, seems nearly nonexistent. But then a family dining room rolls on, a bed dangles from the ceiling, and staircases are transformed into mysterious caves.

Element by element, “Tom Sawyer” turns into a near-perfect production.

The characters do not burst into waltzes or polkas, but there are scenes of brilliantly stylized movement (by Tommy Rapley, movement director) that are as elegant as any dance.

The costume designer, Ilona Somogyi, has created appropriately homey 19th-century-style fashions that do not draw attention to themselves, except when Becky Thatcher gets a new dress for Act II.

One of the evening’s funniest moments is when Huck reappears, after the Widow Douglas has gotten her hands on him, in a new, respectable suit of clothes.

This is a boy who sums up his view of a perfect world when Tom asks what he will do if they find the buried treasure they are looking for. “I’ll have some pie and a glass of soda every day,” Huck says triumphantly, “and go to every circus that comes to town.”

“The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” adapted by Laura Eason from the book by Mark Twain, is at Hartford Stage, 50 Church Street, through May 9. Information: (860) 527-5151 or hartfordstage.org.

HARTFORD COURANT

April 09, 2010

By SUSAN HOOD

The preface to Mark Twain's timeless 1876 novel, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," states: "Although my book is intended mainly for the entertainment of boys and girls, I hope it will be not shunned by men and women on that account, for part of my plan has been to try to pleasantly remind adults of what they once were themselves ... "

Twain's aim is charmingly fulfilled in Laura Eason's swiftly paced theatrical adaptation commissioned by Hartford Stage, "Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer."

Eason does not retell every episode in Twain's classic and rightly avoids those not essential to a staging. She retains a good portion of Twain's naturalistic dialogue and twinkling humor, and obviously shares his affection for the juvenile imaginations and innocent hearts of Tom, Huckleberry Finn and Becky Thatcher.

Twain fans may find that Tom's self-dramatizing piques arising from injuries to his feelings and his knowledge of the mysterious and changing Mississippi River, which are fundamental to his escapades, are missing.

But Eason revels in Tom's cunning as the "glorious whitewasher" of Aunt Polly's fence, and in his instant worship of pretty Becky. Eason recognizes the author's empathy toward Tom's put-upon custodian, Polly, and relishes Twain's mockery of the droning minister and of the schoolmaster who administers corporal punishment.

Like Twain, she respects the complexities of the semi-outlaws Muff Potter and Injun Joe. Her treatment of Tom's moral crisis — if he doesn't tell what he witnessed with Huck in the graveyard one dark night, Muff Potter will hang for the murder of Doc Robinson — is not only finely balanced, it is central to her play. For as Twain wrote of Tom, "He was not the Model Boy of the village," but he is basically good.

Jeremy B. Cohen, associate artistic director of Hartford Stage, directs the excellent, energetic cast, all of whom are making their Hartford Stage debuts, with deft playfulness.

The young adult leads — Tim McKiernan, Casey Predovic and Louisa Krause — are convincing as the refreshingly youthful and plucky Tom, Huck and Becky.

Daniel Ostling's spare, monochromatic scenery of moving and flying windows, platforms, staircase, a bed and fence, is an imaginative feat of design. Ilona Somogyi renders the requisite 1840s stylings in a luscious palette. Robert Wierzel bathes the space in atmospheric light. And Broken Chord Collective's sound design and original music sensitively underscore the action and assists in the production's rhythmic momentum.

MARK TWAIN'S THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER runs 1 hour and 40 minutes including one intermission. It plays through May 9 at Hartford Stage, 50 Church St., Hartford. Tickets are $23 to $66 with some $10 tickets available for all performances. For information and tickets, call 860-527-5151 or visit www.hartfordstage.org.