Transatlantic Love Affair’s Red and the Mother Wild Worthy of Illusion Theater’s 50th Anniversary

Red and the Mother Wild is the latest from the physical Theater company Transatlantic Love Affair. Their shows are created in collaboration, they are developed and performed without the use of set and props. The wonderful thing about them, is that those elements are not missed. Like listening to and old time radio show your mind fills in that which your eyes cannot see. There is no sound design, but the production is filled with sounds. Those of the birds, of the wind, the sounds of the woods, and the animals that inhabit it. All of the sounds are created by the actors live on stage using their voices and bodies. The cast perform the roles of human characters as well as anything else that might aid in creating a picture in the minds eye of the audience. This includes everything from animals, to the walls of Mother Wilds home, and the trees of the forest. The story is grown from the seed of the Little Red Riding Hood fairytale. It tells of a village of people, one of whom is a little girl named Red who has no parents and so the villagers all take turns raising her. Red is inexplicably drawn to the woods, the one place she is told she must never go. When she is older she will venture in and discover the darker side of the world.

Directed with creativity and exacting detail by Isabel Nelson the first and former Artistic Director of Transatlantic Love Affair. There is one element of production design that they do rely upon and that is lighting which was designed by Dante Benjegerdes and really is well done and integral to the story. The entire ensemble is fantastic and the magic of the piece being the way they have managed to create an entire world using only their voices and bodies. They find the perfect way to suggest a fish in a stream, or a way to embody a tree that is being chopped down, in a way that we know exactly what is happening and also earns a laugh. The cast is a seven Actor ensemble comprised of Jack Bechard, Mark Benzel, Amber Bjork, Peyton McCandless, Derek Lee Miller, Adelin Phelps, and Allison Vincent. While a few have bigger roles, it really is an ensemble in the way they all contribute to creating the world of the play. It’s fascinating the details they add like a dripping faucet in a village home or the layering of sounds to capture the aural experience of the forest at night.

I do want to highlight a few performance moments that really connected for me. Phelps as Red is the perfect performer to take us on this journey, she captures Red’s curiosity about the woods beautifully and is equally effective when shutting down after a traumatic event. Allison Vincent in the role of one of the village mothers has again displayed her gift for line readings that are flat out the best possible way to say anything. She and Phelps together create a very special bond, their connection is felt and is one of the strongest in the production. Vincent also knows how to play a tree falling down in such a way that it elicits a big laugh from the audience. Derek Lee Miller is plays Daniel Vincent’s characters husband, a woodsman, he allows Red to come into the woods. When things take a turn, Miller does a nice job of portraying the two sides of this character. Finally, Amber Bjork plays the Mother Wild, a woman who lives in the woods and takes Red in, this character made me think of Dorothy Molter, the Root Beer Lady, if you saw History Theatre’s show this winter you’ll know what I mean. Bjork plays her very no nonsense and practical, with little jabs of humor now and then.

Red and the Mother Wild runs through April 12th at the Center for Performing Arts in South Minneapolis. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.illusiontheater.org/red-and-the-mother-wild

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