A fast tip of the hat – and a swoosh of the petticoats as well – in the direction of Metro Theater Company, St. Louis’ long-lived children’s theatre group. Their current offering, The Hundred Dresses, gives audiences the eternal question of dealing with The Other – a person or persons who are different from those around them. Taken from Eleanor Estes’ 1944 children’s novel of the same name, based on her own experience when a refugee began attending her school, it looks at how we view and what we do when faced with Others.
In an elementary class taught by Mr. Mason (Phillip C. Dixon), the students include Maddie, our narrator (Alicia Reve Like), the exuberant Tommy (Jacob Cange) and Peggy (Hailey Medrano), who swans about in true queen bee style, long before the phrase was coined. They’ve obviously been classmates before. Wanda Petronski (Sophie Murk) joins the class, and the giggles start with her last name. Then they notice she only wears the same dress every day, and her lunch is very simple. The metaphorical knives come out.
Artistic director Julia Flood directed this story of how a girl with one dress talks about a hundred dresses. David Blake designed the sets and the costumes, complete with what would have been at the time (which seems rather Fifties) called “can-can slips” come to us courtesy of Lou Bird. Medrano makes good use of the can-cans for her character’s superior preening and flouncing. Like‘s confusion over what to do about the conflict between the two other girls is carefully played but not overdone. And Murk’s Wanda is quite excellent, her hesitation and confusion weighing on her as she forges on.
Running time is about 55 minutes, no intermission. A worthwhile experience for the young and those who want to open their worlds wider.
The Hundred Dresses
through February 25
Metro Theater Company
Grandel Theatre
3610 Grandel Square