Raleigh Little Theatre Preview
Robert W. McDowell, Triangle Theatre Review
November 2, 2007

Mary Hall Surface's “The Reluctant Dragon” is a musical
adapted from a famous story by Kenneth Grahame

Raleigh Little Theatre will present The Reluctant Dragon, a musical adapted by Washington, DC playwright and director Mary Hall Surface from the 1898 children’s story by British writer Kenneth Grahame (1859-1932), on Nov. 3-4, 7-11, and 15-18 in its Gaddy-Goodwin Teaching Theatre. RLT associate education director Kathleen Rudolph will direct the show.

Rudolph says, “The Reluctant Dragon is a famous children’s book, which I read to my children many years ago. Raleigh Little Theatre actually did a different version of this story about 15 years ago, which I did not see.”

She adds, “The story is one about friendship and honor and loyalty. The main character is a young boy, which is appealing to me when we can actually use young people in our productions.”

Director Kathleen Rudolph describes the plot as follows:

“A long time ago, back in the Dark Ages, a Dragon (Timothy Corbett) comes to the Downs near the town of Guildemere to live. Glaston (Garrett Stein-Seroussi) is thrilled, because his favorite subjects are knights and dragons; and he soon befriends the Dragon. However, his father Woolchester (Geof Shuford); his mother Darby (Rebecca Leonard); Kendal (LaKeisha Coffey), who owns the town; Morpeth the tavern owner (Allison Powell); Grimsby the young squire (Gray Sotir); and all the other villagers (Jared Clayton, Angela Difede, and Nicole Powell) are all extremely afraid of dragons. So, they call upon Saint George (Larry Evans) to come and slay the dragon.”

Besides director Kathleen Rudolph, the show’s creative team includes choreographer Kaitlin Rudolph, technical director and set designer Jim Zervas, lighting designer Andy Parks, costume designer Vicki Olson, puppet designer Rick Young, properties mistress Betsy Bates, sound designer Becca Easley, and stage manager Keith Bugner, Original music by Mary Hall Surface.

Kathleen Rudolph says, “The set [by scenic designer Jim Zervas] takes us to several locations. Up in the gallery of the Gaddy-Goodwin Theatre we find Glaston’s house and Morpeth’s Tavern. Down on the floor, the set changes from the village to the Dragon’s cave.… The script calls for most of the play to take place at dusk and night when the stars are out. This is challenging, because darkness tends to scare young audiences a bit; and since there already is a dragon to scare them, [lighting designer] Andy [Parks] played with the lights to make them appealing to children.”

She adds, “[Costume designer] Vicki [Olson] did an enormous amount of research on the period, and the costumes are all true to the time. The dragon costume, designed both by Vicki Olson and Rick Young, will be wonderful.”

Rudolph claims, “The major challenge in [staging The Reluctant Dragon] is creating a dragon that is believable, scary yet not too scary for our young audience, enormous yet flexible enough to engage in a fight scene. Blocking the Dragon’s moves have been tough, because I am not 100 percent sure what the Dragon will be able to do once in full costume.”

Raleigh Little Theatre presents The Reluctant Dragon Friday, Nov. 2, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 3-4, at 1 and 5 p.m.; Wednesday, Nov. 7, at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.; Thursday-Friday, Nov. 8-9 and 15-16, at 7:30 p.m.; and Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 10-11 and 17-18, at 1 and 5 p.m. in its Gaddy-Goodwin Teaching Theatre, 301 Pogue St., Raleigh, North Carolina. $12 ($8 children 12 and under). 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://raleighlittletheatre.org/performances/07-08/reluctantdragon.html.

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