When puppets are used in a dramatic presentation, they are usually somewhat removed from the action, reserved to make some abstract point. Freeport, Maine's Figures of Speech Theatre, a family affair, has specialized over the past two decades in combining puppet characters and live actors in shows, usually aimed at school audiences. The puppets however tend to be the primary actors. Not so in "The Beanstalk Variations", which has toured for the past three years. This ambitious production focuses on John Farrell as Jack, a man seeking help for his nightmares. The setting is a psychiatrist's office, here represented by a full-stage set created by a surround of black and white drops drawn in pen and ink style based on photos of Freud's famous consulting room.
Here Dr Blaukopf, played by regional theater director and actor, Michael Rafkin, undertakes to cure Jack by exploring his nightmare of a giant hand grabbing up while he plays a harp. This image, performed in a tall rolling puppet booth, starts the show. Immediately after, Jack makes his entrance from under the couch, which is watched over by a portrait of Freud. Doctor and patient then engage in a Marx Brothers style chase around the room, under and over the furniture, until Blaukopf decides to use "play therapy", specifically Jack's fear of giants to cure him. Out come the puppets.
The physical hijinks, which keep this hour long show humming along, were created by Avner Eisner, Maine's legendary Avner the Eccentric, an amazingly creative mime-clown. The synergy between his intensely physical style and the company's attempt to take a serious approach to a traditional tale has produced a very interesting piece. The puppets, medium sized table top figures, are the product of John Farrell's exquisite carving and Carol Farrell's detailed costuming. She's featured in other FoS shows but doesn't appear in this one. Following the traditional tale, the script quickly establishes Jack's dreamy nature, further enhanced when he breaks into a cowboy lament for the Cow. Rafkin then becomes the Magician with beans to sell, doffing his white coat and fake mustache to reveal a florid shirt. Another puppet sequence follows as Jack's Mother angrily discards the beans and he curls up with his puppet self to nap on the couch
Blaukopf then raises a beanstalk from its pillow end and puts on drag to become the Giant's giant Wife, with a musical number to explain her situation, one of the highlights of the show. He also flips his diploma around to reveal "their" wedding picture. When Jack awakes, the story continues. The Giantess hides Jack the puppet - in a empty stew pot - but tells the real person he's on his own. Farrell disappears under the couch only to reappear looming over the backdrop as the Giant. Entering from doors in the front of the puppet booth with the predictable "Fee Fi Foh Fum," he's diverted into explaining its meaning in song, lounge singer style. After much byplay involving the pot the Giant falls asleep from a bop on the head, Jack the puppet manipulated by Rafkin emerges to steal his gold and climbs down the beanstalk, at which point the Giant awakes and disappears the way he entered. Farrell reappears from under the couch, Rafkin doffs his drag, and the cure is begun.
This kind of vaudeville trickery, which next has Rafkin playing the golden-egg laying chicken, his second showstopping bit, and Farrell dressed as the Giant again realizing that his nightmares are merely part of his (Jack's) over-active imagination, is the real genius behind this script. The changes from persona to persona are not merely clever but drive the action. Puppetry, clowning, physical acting, and the occasional corny joke, plus a healthy dose of audience participation when appropriate, blend into one sophisticated presentation. The show functions, however, for audiences of various ages.
The company has performed as part of the Kennedy Center Children's Series , and plays middle-schools regularly, usually insisting on a question and answer period afterwards. Ideas which can be appreciated by an adult audience don't necessarily have to be avoided for younger groups. Parents taking children to this show will have a lot to talk about afterwards. Exactly how Jack the man was cured may be hard to explain, but the fact that he did overcome his insecurities is satisfying. The presentation was part of a year long series being presented by the Puppet Showplace Theater as part of its 28th season.