Fletcher and zenobia save the circus

premiered at the mill city museum historic train shed, part of The MN Fringe Festival
August 7-14, 2011

"Can a cat and a doll save a troubled circus armed with only their wits, a lot of papier maiche and the low standards of the provincial French? The Live Action Set's collective adaptation of the original Edward Gorey, Victoria Chess book combines the trademark offbeat Gorey humor with the cast's impressive acrobatics to make a wildly entertaining family show. The company creates an immersive storybook circus fantasy atmosphere with a lively score, colorful costume design and frenetic choreography by Cirque du Soleil veteran Noah Bremer." -- Brian Henderson, Pioneer Press

Program Notes

The inspiration...
a note from the director, sara richardson

Fletcher and Zenobia Save the Circus has been one of my very favorite books since I was eight years old. I loved its strange, vibrant illustrations, actually drawn by Victoria Chess and not Mr. Edward Gorey himself. I loved the jokes, the very recognizable but larger than life characters, the tangents, the epic run-ons, and the weird first sentence. It was unlike any other book on the shelf, the absolute misfit of all the children’s books, so funny, so strange, so magical. I was never quite sure how it got there and liked to imagine somehow it had just appeared, gifted to me by Fletcher and Zenobia themselves. In reality it was my older brother’s- he explained the puns to me and I laughed loudly whenever I would get to them to show (pretending) I understood and later would try grandly (in vain) to explain them to others. In making this playful adaptation, we tried to communicate visually some of the verbal tricks that run throughout the short (63-page), rare and out-of-print book of Mr. Gorey’s. We kept essentially all of the original dialogue. Mostly we wanted to keep the spirit of the story and the absurdity of the humor alive. Not to mention the spirit of childhood- with its wildly tangential imaginations, little dramas, hierarchies, plays in the backyard and never-ending gymnastic routines on tire swings (complete with accompaniment and announcer). We saw the story as a clown show brought to life by five charming misfits. Sit back (or up, if you’re on a bench) and enjoy as Edie, Fred, Helmut, The Little Guy and The Other Guy share with you the whimsical, ridiculously asurd and magical world of Fletcher and Zenobia Save the Circus. “Wherefore, on!”

on stage

Noah Bremer ........................ M. Zut-Alors
Paul Fonfara ......................... musician
Hans Hauge .......................... The Other Guy
Chris Hepola .......................... musician
Steven Hobert ....................... musician
Kimberly Richardson ........... Zenobia
Dario Tangelson .................... Fletcher
Emily Zimmer ........................ The Little Guy

off stage

Sara Richardson ..................... director, literary adapter, costume designer
Eric Sharp ................................ rehearsal stage manager, props designer, production assistant
Noah Bremer ........................... set designer
Jim Domenick .......................... rigging consultant
William Harmon ..................... production assistant

Noah Bremer ........................... producer
Joanna Harmon ...................... producer