Olympia Family Theater enters the world of ‘The Snow Queen’
“The Snow Queen,” in its opening weekend at Olympia Family Theater, brings a new perspective and elaborate puppets to Hans Christian Andersen’s tale of a land where it’s always winter.
The original adaptation, written by Emily McHugh, adds layers and textures to the story, which has inspired such beloved stories as C.S. Lewis’s “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” and Disney’s “Frozen.” It also inspired OFT’s own 2022 “Nyx and the Long Night,” also a co-production with String and Shadow Puppet Theater.
The play follows the journey of young Gerda (Kayla Tomlinson), who sets out to rescue best friend Kay (Lex Langguth-Torres) from the icy clutches of the Snow Queen (Hillary Lucero). A splinter from the queen’s magic mirror leaves his heart frozen.
“At heart, it’s a fairy tale,” said Vanessa Cat, one of the family theater’s managing directors. “It is a perfect warm winter story for a cold winter’s night.”
As she travels through a frozen landscape, Gerda encounters mysterious and magical creatures — many of them puppets, including an oversized sheep that played an important role in String and Shadow’s 2024 “Or So It Would Seam,” one of the troupe’s annual summer productions.
As fans of the outdoor shows have learned, these puppets — some larger than life — are impressive feats of creativity and engineering.
One such fan is “Queen” director Jordan Richards, who has been performing and working behind the scenes with the troupe for the past year.
“When I say that I perform with a puppet theater, people lose interest almost immediately if they don’t understand the grandeur of String and Shadow’s puppets,” Richards said. “These are amazing pieces of art that come alive on the stage. They are not like sock puppets or something.”
In addition to incorporating giant puppets, “The Snow Queen” uses shadow puppets to illustrate the story of how the magic mirror was made and how it came to break. The shadows fall on various objects on stage, echoing the theme of the mirror’s broken pieces.
The queen, in this retelling, is not a villain. “I love that she’s not good or bad,” Cat said. “She’s a neutral entity, and audiences can decide how they feel about her.”
The adaptation makes room for deeper meaning, she added.
“It’s a story of friendship and love in the face of uncertainty,” she said. “We are so exposed to all of the things going on in the world that some people become cold and desensitized. This reminds us that together we can be warm. … We don’t have to be cold and unkind to things that are unknown.”
The power of working together has been a theme behind the scenes as well, Richards said. A large group of volunteers helped to build and paint the sets, and working with puppets in nearly every scene added to the responsibilities of the cast, including Em Jones, Luna, Sahara Cook, Veronica Harris, Nadia Wright, Twana Beedle and Amanda Robinson.
“It really is remarkable how versatile and creative this cast is,” Richards said. “People have been coming together to figure things out and solve the issues that arise.”
‘The Snow Queen’
What: A co-production of String and Shadow Puppet Theater and Olympia Family Theater, this adaptation tells the story with elaborate puppets, some larger than life giant puppets, shadow puppets and fairytale-style magic.
When: 7 p.m. Dec. 4, 5, 11, 12, 18 and 19 and 3 p.m. Dec. 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21, 27 and 28.
Where: Olympia Family Theater, 612 Fourth Ave. E, Olympia.
Tickets: $20-$25, with 10 pay-what-you-choose tickets available one hour before showtimes. For the Dec. 11 performance, pay what you can.
Masks: Masks are required at the Dec. 7 performance.
More information: https://olyft.org/