Rapunzel Alone was commissioned three years ago, right before Covid took the world by storm. As it turned out, the pandemic accentuated the already crisis of isolation among kids and teenagers due to the tendency to be so attached to electronic devices and social media.
Rapunzel Alone is set during WWII when thousands of kids from main cities in England were sent to the countryside to save them from the German bombings. These kids were hosted by families that took care of them until the end of the war. Some kids adapted well to the new environments in farms, while others became miserable, as many of them had never even seen any animal farm in their lives. Some were even exploited as farm workers, laboring for long hours without much things to do to keep them entertained.
In the case of the protagonist, Lettie (Tara Alise Cox), she was sent by train to an isolated farm with a single woman with no kids called Miss Pearce (Jacquelin Lorraine Schofield). The new environment took Lettie by surprise. The smells, the animals, the isolation of the farm, and the strictness of Miss Pearce made a negative first impression on Lettie. To add another nuance to her life, Lettie had to feed Gertrude (handled by puppeteer Matt Curtin), a grumpy goose who likes to chase her around with the occasional bite here and there. As the story unfolds, we learn that Lettie can neither read nor write. It seems that one of the subtexts of the play is some kind of Lettie’s learning disability, as Miss Pearce tried unsuccessfully to teach her to read and write. Miss Pearce then decided to write Lettie’s letters to her parents, not always verbatim as dictated by Lettie. Things start to take a turn when Lettie meets Conrad (William Leon), the mail kid who thinks Miss Pearce is a witch. Conrad’s attitude towards Miss Pearce is influenced by his parents’ own bias. It is in one of their meetings that Conrad compares Lettie to Rapunzel, thinking that Miss Pearce is keeping Lettie confined in the farm for malicious purposes, setting off Lettie to become more defiant to Miss Pearce. This triggers Lettie’s temptation to leave the farm and go back to London by herself.
The play is a magnificent story of how humans deal with adverse situations and the extend of people’s reactions when faced with biased and negative interactions, a topic as current today as it was more than 80 years ago. More surprising is the similitude between the feeling of isolation of those kids that were sent to the countryside and the isolation of today’s children, not due to a war but due to the connection to the internet and the subsequent paradoxical disconnection from the world around them. Playwright Mike Kenny, who also serves as the narrator, was able to re-create a WWII story and make Rapunzel Alone as fresh as any contemporary story dealing with today’s issues. The delicate relationship between Lettie and Gertrude, the unique circumstances of Miss Pearce, the turbulent times depicted in the story, and the resolution among all of the characters make this play an outstanding piece, as exciting and relevant as the original Rapunzel fairytale.
The technical aspects take this play to another level. Directors Debbie Devine and Jesús Castaños-Chima added a special visual element by working with talented video designer Matthew G. Hill. The projections on the three walls of the proscenium representing London, warplanes, and the farm itself make the imaginary scenes more appealing and aesthetic. Adding a puppeteer handling a goose make the play even more technically challenging, something theatre enthusiasts definitely appreciate. To add something extra, there are Spanish subtitles projected on the wall for the Spanish-speaking audiences.
Rapunzel Alone is a compelling story that makes sure that challenging times as the separation of families during WWII and the instances of racism and isolation do not sink into oblivion. But the play goes beyond that. It gives hope that despite our differences, we could learn from the mistakes of the past and move forward to a better life, co-existing peacefully, even if history repeats itself.
Rapunzel Alone
April 9 – May 1:
• Saturdays at 3 p.m.: April 16, April 23, April 30 (no matinee on April 9)
• Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.: April 9, April 16, April 23, April 30
• Sundays at 3 p.m.: April 10, April 24, May 1 (dark April 17)
24th Street Theatre
1117 West 24th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90007-1725
Written and narrated by Mike Kenny. Directed by Debbie Devine and Jesús Castaños-Chima. Starring Tara Alise Cox, Matt Curtin, William Leon, and Jacquelin Lorraine Schofield. Produced by Jennie Mcinnis.
Tickets: https://www.24thstreet.org/
