By Manning Harris
fmanningh@gmail.com
Synchronicity Theatre’s short musical play “The Brand New Kid,” running through March 27, may be for audiences 4+ (four and up), but I would say the emphasis is on the “up.” The characters may be second graders and the play may run for only an hour, but the issues are, unfortunately, timeless and timely: bullying, ostracism, who’s in and who’s out, hurt feelings, and courage. Yes, it’s “children’s theatre,” but children (a revelation!) are people—and human beings play these games at any age.
It’s the first day of school in the second grade, and Laslo (Lake Roberts), from Hungary, is in a new school, city, and country. He looks and sounds a little different; but be different and be damned, as the saying goes. Ellie (Joanna Burgess) wants to be his friend, but she soon realizes she would then be guilty by association. Her friend Carrie (Enisha Brewster) is largely neutral, indifferent toward Laslo. But unfortunately, the opposite of love is not hate; it is indifference. “I didn’t know what was happening.” “Silence equals death.” Sound familiar?
Okay, I’m not trying to lay a huge onus on these kids, who incidentally are all extremely well played by actors in their early twenties. But you see where this kind of behavior can lead, and it’s deadly serious. The ironic, wrenching thing (for me, anyway) is our obsessive quest to be “normal”–a word which of course has no meaning! What we don’t understand we tend to fear; and what we fear we tend to hate. This truism is the basis of most misery in the world.
Yes, this little play for children has all of that embedded in it. The play is based on a short book by TV’s Katie Couric (who happens to have two daughters named Ellie and Carrie). It is adapted here by Melanie Marnich and Michael Friedman, and co-directed by Cat Mew and Tom Kidd; musical direction by Alicia Stark. Mr. Kidd does the choreography.
Completing the cast are Erin Lorette (playing the adult roles), Corey Bradberry, and Brent Rose, who has a nice comic bit when his character Peter suddenly blossoms into an intellectual giant in the show’s final moments. Of course kids often hide their brainpower: It would make them stand out and be “different,” you see.
It was nice to see parents with their very small children in the audience; one is never too young to learn these lessons. And “The Brand New Kid” has a charming theatricality; incidentally, it is running in repertory with “Exit, Pursued By a Bear,” also closing on March 27. Synchronicity Theatre has undertaken an admirable mission in their entertaining and educating young people (all people, really).
For more information, visit www.synchrotheatre.com
