Guilty or not guilty? That is the question. The Puppet Co. in Glen Echo Park is bringing back the popular fairy tale, Goldilocks, with an updated version by moving between the original setting of the cottage where the bear family lives – to a courthouse where Mr. Bear and Goldilocks share their two sides of the story. Just as a glass of water can be half empty it can also be half full and so the Puppet Co.’s version of the story has some justice brought to bear upon it.
The Bear Family of Mama Bear, Papa Bear, and Baby Bear takes a trip out of the house to visit the neighbors. As most mothers have experienced, her baby playfully runs away. When the family returns home, they find everything to be not right. Porridge has been eaten, chairs are broken, and beds have been lied in. Mama & Papa Bear immediately think they’ve been “burgled,” since there’s been suspicious activity in the neighborhood recently and their first thoughts center upon “those humans” which they fear.
Mr. Bear is brought to the witness stand in the courtroom where he finishes telling his tale and Cate Krage, as herself (she also plays the Mockney-accented Mama Bear and a Valley Girl version of Goldilocks), excuses him and says that’s it. Christopher Piper, who also plays himself (as well as Baby Bear and a Russian Papa Bear), wants the proceedings to continue with Goldilocks brought to the witness stand so she can give her version of the story – the first time the public gets to hear from the title character.
We find Goldilocks wandering through the woods, minding her own business, when she stumbles upon a crying Baby Bear. The duo break into a doo-wop song and Goldilocks takes it upon herself to look after the little guy and babysit. They head back to Baby Bear’s home and she does her best to take care of him there. However, it doesn’t take long for Baby Bear to get emotional and start calling, “Mamaaaaaa!” Papa Bear and Mama Bear arrive home suddenly and Goldilocks splits so that she doesn’t have to meet the hungry bears.
When we return to the courtroom, Goldilocks and Papa Bear meet and realize they’ve misunderstood each other from the start. Once they’ve come to an understanding of each other, the new friends sing a song about how, “If we listen to each other, we can get along.” After hearing the two sides of the story, Christopher and Cate take off their bear costumes and ask the audience for their verdict. It turns out that each party is a little bit right and a little bit wrong. It’s funny how that happens.
Goldilocks plays through July 15, 2012 at The Puppet Co. – 7300 MacArthur Boulevard in Glen Echo Park, in Glen Echo, MD. For tickets, call (301) 634-5380, or purchase them online.
