The Little Prince Takes the Stage

The Little Prince from Alexis Macnab on Vimeo.

Every July, the local college offers free performances by a dramatic touring company. This year one of the plays is an adaptation of "The Little Prince," written in 1943 by French author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

The "The Little Prince" is about a man who once dreamed of being an artist.

But instead he became an aviator, and when the story opens he crash lands in the Sahara Desert, where he meets the Little Prince.

The Little Prince is from another planet, where he is the only resident and has to tend the volcanoes and the boab trees. One day, the Little Prince discovers a Rose.

The Rose convinces the Little Prince to leave the planet, and he travels the galaxy, learning lessons from the inhabitants of every planet he visits. At last, he comes to Earth, where he meets a Fox

and a Snake.

And then the Little Prince meets the Aviator and shares with him the tale of the journey.

Both the Little Prince and the Aviator learn important lessons, about the necessity of dreams, and the magic of friendship, and what life is really about underneath all those careful rules set by The Grown-Ups.

I went to see the play yesterday afternoon with my sister-in-law, niece, and nephew...and it was FABULOUS. Everything was just perfection - script, sets, special effects, staging, directing, acting. It was a visual feast of beauty and a thought-provoking philosophical fable.

In this article, director Alexis Macnab says, "Ultimately, it's about the importance of hope as a life-saving force; it's a complicated and adult journey. But if you can't explain it to a six-year-old, you're not saying it simply or deeply enough."

After the play, my 6 year old niece spontaneously declared, "That was awesome!" so Macnab succeeded in effectively conveying a complex message. She also succeeded in creating a very well-done piece of art.

Video and all photos from the Oberlin Summer Theater Festival facebook page.

AND attending the play was a marvelous opportunity to wear my Eiffel Tower earrings, which I received from Tamara as a giveaway for the Paris In July blog event! Thanks Tamara.