Playwright Carol Korty and Composer Scott Wheeler Adapted Baba Yaga
And The Black Sunflower From A Russian Folk Tale

By Robert W McDowell, July 11, 2007

Raleigh Little Theatre’s Teens on Stage will present Baba Yaga And The Black Sunflower, a play adapted from a Russian folk tale by Carol Korty, with music by Scott Wheeler, on July 13-15 and 17-22 in the Gaddy-Goodwin Teaching Theatre. RLT youth theater and education director Linda O’Day Young will stage the show, which is the culmination of a five-week theater-training program for Triangle teenagers.

On its web site Raleigh Little Theatre writes, “This original tale is based on traditional Russian stories about Baba Yaga [Molly Davis], an ancient sorceress with iron teeth who lives in a hut built on chicken legs. It is the story of Maryushka [Katie Higgins], a young orphan girl, and her struggle to find her place in the world. Misunderstood and rejected by her village, she journeys deep into the forest to the home of Baba Yaga, where both her wit and will are tested. Songs inspired by the folk music of Russia and Lithuania enrich the tale.…

“An intensive five-week theater program, Teens on Stage (TOS) culminates in 16 performances of Baba Yaga, the opening production for Raleigh Little Theatre’s new season. All TOS students take morning conservatory classes that include acting, movement, voice and improvisation. In the afternoon, students rehearse Baba Yaga with RLT youth theatre and education director Linda O’Day Young.”

Besides Molly Davis and Katie Higgins, the RLT cast for Baba Yaga And The Black Sunflower includes Brett Williams as Izbushka; Lela Johnston, Laura Levine, Molly Ward as Starukhe; Phoebe Andrews as Granny; Aaron Wright as Grisha; Nick Johnson as Vanya; John Molloy as Petya; John Glass as the Dog; and Shannon Mackenzie as the Cat. The ensemble includes Jackson Bloom, Nick Johnson, Patrick Jones, Katelyn Kidwell, Connor Lillis, Amelia Lumpkin, Andrew Paschal, Lauren Pecic, Lauren Smallwood, Jessica Speake, Clare Vestal, and Aaron Wright.

In addition to director Linda O’Day Young, the show’s creative team includes choreographer Julie Mulvihill, musical director Mary Kathryn Walston, technical director and scenic designer Roger Bridges, lighting designer Andy Parks, costume designer Vicki Olson, sound designer Becca Easley, assistant to the director Erin Hanehan, and stage manager Andrew Britt.

According to Anchorage Press Plays, “This original tale uses motifs from traditional Russian stories and songs to explore a young girl’s struggle to find her place in the world. Humans, animals, nightmares enrich the telling.... Maryushka [Katie Higgins] spends three days of challenges that carry her from her village to the forest and Baba Yaga [Molly Davis], the ancient sorceress and a great test of wits and will. Selected for the Kennedy Center’s New Visions/New Voices, and hailed by The Boston Globe as theater that ‘has everything a child could want ... scary (but not too scary), funny (but not too cute). Here are awesome songs and real ideas for kids to wrap their minds around. We hope it will be produced often and everywhere.’”

Raleigh Little Theatre’s Teens on Stage presents Baba Yaga And The Black Sunflower Friday, July 13, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, July 14-15, at 1 and 5 p.m.; Tuesday-Wednesday, July 17-18, at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.; Thursday-Friday, July 19-20, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, July 21, at 1 and 5 p.m.; and Sunday, July 22, at 1 p.m. in RLT’s Gaddy-Goodwin Teaching Theatre, 301 Pogue St., Raleigh, North Carolina. $12 ($8 children). 919-821-3111 or etix.com. NOTE: All shows are wheelchair accessible, and assistive listening devices are available for all shows. RALEIGH LITTLE THEATRE: http://www.raleighlittletheatre.org/performances/07-08/babayaga.html.

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