Irresistible Toad of Toad Hall comes to Rosebud’s Studio Stage

Time Contributor 

 

Rosebud’s Studio Stage offers a guaranteed way to laugh away the stress of the upcoming holidays.

On Thursdays to Saturdays, from now til Christmas, Rosebud School of the Arts’ second-year students present Toad of Toad Hall, based on A. A. Milne’s adaptation of Kenneth Grahame’s classic Wind in the Willows. Rebecca Wolgemuth, a Rosebud graduate, wrote the script and Jeany Van Meltebeke directed the students in bringing it to a very entertaining life.

The play opens with a car crash. Lovable-but-arrogant Toad (Brynn Linsey) has just smashed his seventh motor car… or is it his eighth? Toad’s loyal friends — Rat (Naomi Esau), Badger (Sarah Spicer) and Mole (Alyssa Glen) – are determined to cure Toad of his dangerous addiction to vehicles. Weasel (Jenny Daigle) and Ferret (Erin Dunphy) are equally determined to benefit from Toad’s troubles.

Brynn Linsey uses her wonderfully expressive face to depict Toad’s emotions – self-pity to deviousness to sorrow to glee – with hilarious results. She almost makes us feel sorry for self-destructive Toad. She certainly makes us laugh at him at every moment.

All of the actors, between playing their main roles, take on other characters — train engineer, puppeteer, washerwoman, jailer’s daughter, policeman, judge. They’re working hard, but it’s obvious they’re also having a lot of fun, making the play even more fun for us to watch.

But audience members aren’t just watching. We cheer and hiss (when prompted), blow a train whistle and hide a fugitive. And we look around in surprise when the characters tunnel right under our seats. 

“In this show, the audience is a character of its own,” said Naomi Esau, playing Rat. “We have to feed off the audience and work with whatever the audience gives us.”

Jeany Van Meltebeke, director and Rosebud instructor, said it’s “simply stunning” to watch students “find their voice …. when you see them obeying an impulse, you know it’s intrinsic to them. It can be quite vulnerable, but also affirming …. this frees them up to obey their instincts even more. They know they have permission to feel foolish. That’s what we welcome.”

This interactive production is a delightful place to introduce your children to live theatre, but it is no less fun for adults. Come to think of it, this is a good time to take in two family-friendly plays at once.  Rosebud’s brand-new Christmas play, May and Joe, showing on the Opera House stage, is another fun way to escape pre-holiday stress and plant the season’s joy in our hearts.

Toad of Toad Hall runs at 4:30 p.m., Thursday to Saturday til Dec. 22. Call 1-800-267-7553 for tickets. See www.rosebudtheatre.com for more about May and Joe.