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Brer Rabbit> NY Times
Adapted from the original William Chandler Harris stories by
Vallejo Gantner, Nancy Black,
and David Travis
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more about the production
New York Times
March 8, 2002
Hip-Hopping Along
Long before Bugs Bunny was twirling his carrot like a mustache
and defeating predators with clever pranks, another rabbit was proving
that there was more to his species than long ears, a twitching nose
and cute hops. He was Br'er Rabbit, the wily hero of folk tales
told by slaves, and he is now frolicking across the stage at the
Abrons Arts Center.
Adapted by Nancy Black, David Travis and Vallejo Gantner, and directed
by Mr. Gantner, this "Br'er Rabbit" is as much urban contemporary
as Old South, with a title character — played by Charles Anthony
Burks — whose language and mannerisms have a definite hip-hop swagger.
But the tales are still the traditional ones, from the famous "Tar
Baby" to an intriguing version of "The Tortoise and the Hare."
Presented by Synapse Productions, the staging is ingenious, from
the live folk music to Miguel Angel Huidor's costumes. Br'er Fox
(Jens Rasmussen) is a smooth dandy in head-to-toe red, and Br'er
Terrapin (Evan Zes) is an amusing clod with a kitchen colander for
headgear and a garbage-can lid on his back.
The authors have eliminated the Uncle Remus figure and brought
in members of the audience, who enjoy supplying an occasional funny
face or sound effect. They won't walk away with any morally uplifting
lessons, but that's hardly the point. These tales were forms of
symbolic rebellion, and children will revel in their sheer subversiveness.
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