Theater Thursday - Rapunzel Alone

What: Rapunzel Alone

Where: Available online at www.thewallis.org/rapunzel

Who: Ages 8 and Up

Rapunzel Alone is an audio play available from The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. For those who live in the Los Angeles area, there will be a live staging of the play in Spring 2022. However, in the meantime, the show is available for free for anyone anywhere to listen to online.

The play takes place during World War II. A young girl is sent away to the country to keep her safe from the bombing. She ends up living with this woman who has a reputation as a witch and tries to keep her away from the other people in the town. She even cuts the girl's long hair. Thus, the Rapunzel reference.

Despite how it might seem from the description, the story really only bears a very slight resemblance to Rapunzel, the familiar fairy tale. In some ways the story is scarier, it takes place during a war and a young girl is separated from her parents. These elements probably make it a little too much for very young children. However, overall, it is not as scary as the fairy tale. There aren't any real witches, and there aren't even any real villains at all in the story. It is mostly about getting to know people before you make judgments about them.  The plot is interesting enough and the story moves along at a quick enough pace to keep the attention of children and adults alike even those with short attention spans. The whole thing is just over an hour long.

And that's our view. For more about Rapunzel Alone or to listen go to www.thewallis.org/rapunzel 

Tune in Sunday for this week's Sunday Scoop.