Vernon Morning Star Review
Caravan Farm Theatre has made a great leap by premiering their winter sleighride production, East o’The Sun, West o’The Moon, to local audiences before taking it to Ottawa in lieu with the National Arts Centre.
For once, us folks in “backwoods” B.C. can show those ignorant Ontarians (Hey, I’m from their originally, so I can say that) how we do things with class and flare, and just the right amount of magic.
Not since a bunch of wild coyotes traipsed through the Nativity scene have I enjoyed a winter show at Caravan so much.
An adaptation by playwright Amiel Gladstone of a Norwegian folktale, the musical stars my favorite Cirque du Soleil alumni Colin Heath (who is still able to do some crazy back-flipping stunts) and his partner Manon Beaudion (who is at her usual over-the-top hilarity), as well as their daughters Camille and Lili Beaudoin, Nicola Correia-Damude, Billy Marchenski, and Hazel Venzon.
The actors are made to run through forest and field to get to their positions. The music, composed by Karen Randoja, is complicated and beautiful using Norweigian dialect. And the set, costumes and lighting(courtesy of Estelle Shook, Marina Szijarto and Stephan Bircher and their respective crews) are positively stunning in their creativity.
This is no small feat for a show that is about to be moved to an experimental farm alongside the world’s longest skating rink (Ottawa’s Rideau Canal), but the crew seem ready for the task.
We the audience get to go dashing through the snow in a two-horse open sleigh, thanks in my case, to Clydesdales Tinker and Luke and their driver Mahina.
The costumes of the Troll Queen and her daughter (Beaudoin and Venzon) are honkingly hilarious (especially for thei protruding proboscises), and the women sure know how to ham it up.
And, well, you can probably guess the ending. This is a fairytale after all.
Keep ‘em coming Caravan, and best of luck in the nation’s capital.
Kristin Froneman, The Morning Star
Published December 22, 2006
