Earlier this year John Glore’s adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time premiered at South Coast Rep, one of America’s most respected theaters for new plays. The 1962 novel about precocious kids has been popular for a long time (especially with, well, precocious kids), so there’s a built-in audience. That’s certainly why Know Theatre is staging it for the 2010 holidays.
L’Engle struggled to get her novel published. It’s a sci-fi adventure about kids zipping around the universe to rescue their dad, a scientist, from an omnipotent evil named “IT.” Publishers couldn’t decide whether the book was an adventure for kids or a fable about good overcoming evil for parents. (Guess they never read C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia; L’Engle’s book is clearly in that vein.)
I wish Know’s production of Wrinkle succeeded at blending these strands, but it doesn’t. Staged by guest director Jason Ballweber, the show tries to be silly for kids and profound for adults. The result is a lot of noise and confusion. I suspect young kids who don’t know the story will be alternatively frightened or confused, and adults (unless they were charmed by the book) will be bored.
A Wrinkle in Time continues at Know Theatre through Dec. 23. Go here to read Rick Pender’s full review.
This article appears in Nov 17-23, 2010.
