It’s a book every American knows, but most people misquote the title. It should be The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and Appleseed Productions artistic director C.J. Young has seized upon the word “adventures” and run with it. The production breaks with years of tradition, includes intervals of music and dance, and delivers plenty of, well, adventure.
Young is employing Laura Eason’s faithful but fresh new adaptation of the Mark Twain classic. Hot young playwright Eason, staff writer for Netflix’s House of Cards, has long been affiliated with Chicago’s Lookingglass Company, known for highly physical productions. Its Lookingglass Alice appeared at Syracuse Stage in February 2010.
Keeping with the Lookingglass aesthetic, Young lets the action spill off the stage onto the floor, with the tables and chairs moved back in the performance space of the Atonement Lutheran Church. So when Tom (Eian Prinsen) and Becky (Gracie Catanzarite) are running for their lives through a darkened cave, we’re in there with them, thanks to Bryan Simcox’s lighting.
