Published: November 14, 2008 09:56 am      

THEATER: Retelling of Tolkien classic continues this weekend.

By Doug Smith



Another widely treasured work of English-language literature has come to life in the Tonawandas.

And there endeth similarities between “Tuesdays with Morrie” and “The Hobbit.” The “Morrie” play was staffed by just two actors, a learned fledgling and a geezer with an early bedtime. The Towne Players’ “Hobbit,” dramatized from Briton J.R.R. Tolkien’s pioneering fantasy novel, looks like an all-ages Halloween party, a cast of 26 ranging from single-digits to don’t-ask.

Fold in the complications of staging a play in a high-ceilinged Episcopal sanctuary and you have a recipe for driving a director around the bend.

But Church of the Advent’s style evokes a Medieval feeling, just the ticket for “The Hobbit’s” Middle Earth setting. For every distraction imposed by pews and pulpits, there’s the reward of architectural integrity that no set-builder could conjure at any price.

“Hobbit” chronicles the awakening of one Bilbo Baggins, who dismisses “adventure” as something that “interferes with dinner.” A puckish wizard tricks Bilbo out of his lethargy, much as Morrie hornswoggled Mitch into visiting every Tuesday.

Legend has it that Tolkien wrote “The Hobbit” to amuse his children, but it WAS 1937 with Europe on the brink of war. Was “The Hobbit” a coded message to his countrymen to get off their duffs, confront evil and claim what was rightfully theirs? Don’t think on this too much. It could interfere with dinner.

Bilbo’s casting poses a dilemma. He’s no kid, just small (the NBA never drafts Hobbits, even as point guards). So, do you find a pint-sized adult and urge on him Bilbo’s childlike naivety, or do you cast a kid and hope he can build Bilbo into maturity?

Director Randy Rumley chose the second option, a real winner in young parishioner Alex Buell, who guides Bilbo through simplicity, reticence, cunning, triumph, and then unravels it, as he has no real feel for worldly goods (“The Hobbit’s” alternative title is “There and Back Again”).

Buell also conquers the beastly acoustics of a lofty hall with a clear, round delivery. Also especially strong in this regard are Bo Dejnka, double-cast as Beorn and a Rock Troll, Mike Leszczynski as the urgently brave Thoren and Bob Lonski as Wizard Gandalf. Ciaran Krueger has one of “Hobbit’s” most astounding scenes as the bounding, squirming, ill-clad riddler Gollum.

Other top-drawer stagecraft includes the escape of the dwarves in down a wine-barrel sluiceway, an effective use of the altar area’s tricky topography, and the presentation of the Rock Trolls as Middle Earth’s precursors to the Three Stooges.

Director Rumley has packed all this into two wizardly hours, including intermission. Surmounting all obstacles by co-operating without thought of reward, they emulate Tolkien’s Hobbit, one and all. Performances continue at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at 54 Delaware Road.



IF YOU GO

WHAT: “The Hobbit”

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: Advent Church, 54 Delaware Road, Kenmore

COST: $10 general admission; $8 students and seniors; $7 presale



Doug Smith is a freelance writer from Grand Island. He recently played the role of Morrie in a production of “Tuesdays With Morrie” at Cardinal O’Hara Performing Arts Center.