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MAY 2005

Theater Reviews
Bad Tots Plot: Schockheaded Peter
By Jan Aaron

In Shockheaded Peter at the Little Shubert badly behaved Victorian tots come to nasty ends. Based on a picture book written in 1845, by German Dr. Heinrich Hoffman, for his 3-year-old son, the show, both silly and outrageously scary, is pegged to kids 10 and up, who like their goose bumps with giggles, and adults.

Smartly staged by Julian Crouch (a co-creator, co-director with Phelim McDermott) and Graeme Gilmour, (also a performer), the clever set resembles a Victorian pop-up picture book, with multiple doors, windows, and trapdoor all constantly in motion by the cast. The old stories themselves compare today with Maurice Sendak’s fantastically illustrated tales.

Master of Ceremonies is the down-at-the-heels elegant and ghoulish Julian Bleach, who takes a long haughty look at the audience and before proclaiming: “I am the greatest actor in the world.” He is assisted throughout by The Tiger Lillies, a funky cabaret band, fronted by accordionist and falsetto singer, Martyn Jacques, who is hauled like a rag doll puppet out of the trap door to serve as a perpetually grinning troubadour. Jacques also composed the music and lyrics adapted from the Hoffman’s tales designed to scare a kid good. Adrian Stout backs him up on the double bass and Adrian Huge plays on drums as well as pots and pans.

All help tell the story of Shockheaded Peter, an ugly child with a mop of unruly curls and talon-like nails, born to beautiful, prosperous parents, so horrified by his looks that they banish him below the floorboards. While the couple becomes transformed before tenderly recognizing their child, the show imparts colorful tales of wicked children and their punishments.

These include cruel Frederick who tortures animals, chubby Augustus who doesn’t like his soup, and foolish Harriet who plays with matches while her pussycat looks on. Also, there are the thumb-sucker Conrad and fidgety Phil. All meet delightfully awful ends.

There are clever puppets, too. I especially liked the marionette sequence about the hare that turns a hunter’s gun on him. A small cast of versatile actors enacts all the roles and manipulates the puppets. If you don’t get to this show, you’re punishing yourself. ($67.50; $27 at 10PM Thursdays. Group sales, 212-239-6262).#

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