About the Author:
Mickey Coburn is a playwright, poet and stage director. A BFA graduate of Carnegie Institute of Technology theatre program, Mickey studied in the graduate programs at the New School in New York City, the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford, England and the University of Pittsburgh. Her plays have been produced by the Acting Place, Inc. in Massachusetts, the Boston Children’s Theatre, the New Ehrlich Theatre in Boston and have been given numerous readings in New York and elsewhere. Mickey conducts workshops at schools and universities and works as a stage director and acting coach. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild.
Includes adaptations of Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty. These three fairy tale heroines are feisty and funny, written to please a modern audience. Performed internationally, they have delighted audiences around the world.
Book Excerpt (Copyrighted Material) :
AUTHOR’S FORWARD
SNOW WHITE
At the Boston Children’s Theatre’s opening performance of SNOW WHITE, two irate women accosted me during the intermission. With them was a gaggle of children of assorted ages. The women demanded a full refund because we weren’t performing “the real Snow White. With Dopey and Sneezy and all of them.” I explained that was the Disney version. This was an original version of the Grimm fairytale. “Grimm? We don’t know no Grimm. What’s that about?” And all this time the kids were howling to return to the theatre because they loved the show and wanted to see the second half. The kids won out.
SNOW WHITE is great fun to produce and to perform. And, as with the other plays in this collection, it works on two levels – appealing to a youthful audience and entertaining adults as well. (Except for the two ladies mentioned above!) For me, this is an essential ingredient of children’s theatre – to not play “down” to the kids and to not bore the adults. To help you achieve this, I offer the following production notes.
The German origin of this fairy tale translated into the names of the characters and the design of set and costumes. I spent time in the children’s book section of the local Barnes and Noble gleaning inspiration from illustrations. I highly recommend it.
The Cast: Most of the youngsters who were involved in actual productions were nine or ten to seventeen years old. In a school situation, adjustments would need to be made. This is how I handled the casting of the characters at the Boston Children’s Theatre with an extensive age range:
THE WOODSMAN/PRINCE -- a teenage boy
SNOW WHITE -- a young teenage girl
THE QUEEN – an adult woman ( if yours is a school production, this might not be possible. An older teenage girl would do nicely. In British tradition, a guy with a great sense of humor would be great as well.)
THE MIRROR: Two girls played the mirror; gold costumes and gold makeup. They created the shape(s) of the mirror with their bodies. They spoke in unison and sometimes alternated lines. Of course, boys could do this as well or a boy and a girl – depending on availability.
All the other characters were appropriately cast youngsters. The SEVEN LITTLE MEN were boys and girls. The three hags were played by the same actor, but of course could be three different actors, depending on your needs.
The Set: We used a basic forest drop bringing in set pieces and lighting effects as needed to create each individual scene.
Music and Sound Effects can be original or tunes that are appropriate. We were fortunate to have access to colleges with great music programs; students from these schools would create music for our shows. I do not have copies of these works; the composers correctly kept the rights to their compositions. The Seven Little Men chant; just a rhythmic patter accompanied by their wooden shoes.
One of my best theatre professors reminded us regularly that “Comedy is serious business.” As long as you don’t “play it for laughs,” the laughs will come. The company might enjoy watching old films/videos of vaudeville comics – Marx Brothers, Abbott and Costello, etc. Just to become familiar with the genre of some of the sillier business in this play. Have fun with it!
