Columbia City Paper

Children’s Theatre New Space Goes to the Dogs

Harken back to a time when workloads weren’t so demanding. Long before an afternoon break for coffee or cigarettes satisfied our cravings (not to mention happy hour!), we were all once kindergarteners in need of graham cracker and milk snacks.  While supervisors now torture us with meeting minutes and memoranda, there was once a teacher or parent who introduced us to books and showed us that reading could be both educational and entertaining.

The Columbia Children’s Theatre is set to bring to life the pages of one of those popular stories, “Go, Dog. Go!”  In 1961, P.D. Eastman created a cast of canine characters decorated in an array of colors and placed in some very strange, yet entertaining situations—all with a modicum of 74 words!  For the next several weekends, theatergoers young and young at heart can catch the word-for-word adaptation of this charming children’s book as performed by Gina Calvert, Jack Drummond, Joy Felder, Toni Moore, Chris Riddle, Lee O. Smith and Roz Stanley, and newcomer Robin Saviolla.  These dedicated performers have the delightful task, and challenge, of providing patrons with a glimpse of puppy personality as each page of the book is turned on stage.

To see the effect “Go, Dog. Go!” has on nascent readers, I turned to a recent kindergarten graduate—my niece, Amanda.  She turned each page with great anticipation and giggled her way through this tale of raucous and rambunctious hounds.  I was surprised to find several narrative nuances ensconced in the illustrations, which will certainly tickle audiences as they are portrayed on stage.  And my niece had no problems picking up the multiple plots and subplots and especially Eastman’s canine creativity, which is nothing less than a celebration of reading itself.

With “Go, Dog. Go!”, the Columbia Children’s Theatre sets to do precisely what authors like Dr. Seuss and P.D Eastman did with their classic Beginner Books:  show readers the informative, fun simplicity of storytelling.  Columbia Children’s Theatre artistic director, Jerry Stevenson, has transformed the author’s original story and artwork into an engaging presentation for child and adult alike—or uncle and niece, in my case.  

Go, Dog. Go! runs September 18-27 at the Columbia Children’s Theatre’s new performance space above the food court in Midtown at Forest Acres (formerly Richland Fashion Mall), which is located at 3400 Forest Drive in Columbia.  Show times are Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m.  Tickets are $6 and are available at www.etix.com or at the door.  To learn more about Columbia Children’s Theatre, visit www.columbiachildrenstheater.com or call 691.4548. 

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