Locomotion - Children's Theatre Company

This was my first experience at the Children's Theatre Company. Yes, my first. Previously I had been on a tour of it, including backstage and the scenic shop, costume shop, etc, however had never seen a show there. Let me just say the production values were fantastic!

photo by Glen Stubbe Photography

Locomotion is a one-act show (75 min, no intermission) that tells us the story of Lonnie (played by Junie Edwards in their first leading role), and how Lonnie learns to relate to the world and his experiences through writing. Lonnie and his sister Lili (Mollie Allen) are in foster care with different families. Towards the end of the show you find out why they are in foster care but at the same time their experience and how they deal with it seems to be more important than the reasoning. Lonnie is given a journal as part of his homework and is told to write in it daily. He gives his friend Enrique (Ellis Dossavi) a hard time because Enrique doesn't write, and doesn't think that poetry has any value. Lonnie, on the other hand, writes free verse and learns the power of writing, what it can do to help you organize your thoughts, feelings, and experiences. I think that was the core message, however there were a mishmash of important topics brought up - foster care, loss of family, sickle cell anemia - which made it a bit difficult to figure if there was one core message. Then I realized that it is like life - throwing you all sorts of curveballs and how you deal with them, how you respond is the important thing. Lonnie learns to respond through writing and his poetry. Enrique turns to using his voice in Church, while also spitting rhymes in the poetic forms of rap and hip-hop. Lili seems to turn to baking and being as much of a normal kid as possible, even if that means skipping visiting days with her brother. A lot was covered in 75 min, and I thought the program was wonderful in providing exercises that younger audience members could do after the show to process the show. It provided examples of different type of poetry, a poem by Langston Hughes, interview with the playwright, as well as the standard program information - cast bio, creative team, (some with pronouns, some without) etc. CTC has some very high standards when it comes to audience care, as well as production values. It was a joy to see these in action - even on a cold Thursday night with a small audience.

Here are some thoughts about the experience of seeing this show. I loved the lobby announcements before the show. They clearly gave information about how much time was left before the show started, who was available to scan tickets, guidelines about drink/food, the length of the show as well as if there was an intermission or not, and where restrooms were located. Everything was clear and so friendly so that people of all ages and abilities would be able to navigate the evening. The show was on the Cargill stage - which looked like it was adaptable so it could be turned into different types of spaces - proscenium, thrust, maybe even in the round. The seating was on long benches with colorful numbers stuck to the backs so you knew where your seat was. The stage was set up as an open journal page. Both sides and the floor were in the standard black with white speckled design like a lined journal would have. The back of the stage was open through the center, and flagged on each side by a tall wall that was white and lined - like a journal page. All the furniture was created by blocks and tables - again all in white with some lines so that they visually fit with the rest of the design. One side had three cut-out sections that worked as doors or windows when needed. On top of that there were also wonderful projections with child-like drawings to help set the place. Sometimes the words that Lonnie wrote were also projected on the walls. Of the five actors, the three student actors were all very good. Darrick Mosley played three adult male roles very well, though the script didn't really focus much time on them. The three adult female roles had more time focused on them as one was Lonnie's teacher, and the other was Lonnie's new foster parent. These three roles were played by Charla Marie Bailey and were fantastic! Each character was so unique with the style of speaking and accents, while it felt like there were some really quick costume changes for her. I was really impressed with the quality of the whole cast.