The trailer for the play “The Sparrow,†which runs through Sunday at Miami’s Arsht Center, is accented by a hummable score and features high schoolers dancing alongside minimal props on a barren stage. Watching this preview, particularly on the heels of “Glee†and “Academy,†you would expect to see yet another high school musical.
But, refreshingly, this production – courtesy of the House Theatre of Chicago – is far from a musical, far even
from most song-and-dance theatre of any kind. Rather, this strange, fun and exciting show harkens back to live theater’s great self-referential innovators, exhuming the spirit of Bertolt Brecht and introducing him to Thornton Wilder.
The central character is Emily (Carolyn Defrin), a brooding, isolated teenager with glasses, a wardrobe of unflattering dark clothing and a demeanor that makes Sylvia Plath look bubbly. She has good reason to feel tortured: Ten years ago, she was the only survivor of a horrific school bus accident and, after the death of her grandmother, she is returning to her hometown to reopen old wounds of grief in the community.
Oh, and she also has supernatural powers, not limited to flight, that have led some critics to cite both “Carrie†and “Mean Girls†as influences. Certainly there are elements of both. At its core, “The Sparrow†is a parable about guilt and redemption in the unforgiving milieu of high school. It’s compelling enough as a story, the but the play really soars as a technical exercise in minimalism, making the most of the stage’s limitations. The actors carry their own props to and fro, and they walk across the stage holding framed images of cornfields to suggest a traveling scene through rural America. A doll house and miniature bedroom suggest Emily’s new home and bedroom.
Despite having virtually no set design, “The Sparrow†is one of the most cinematic plays I’ve seen in some time, complete with aerial special effects and an elaborate, seemingly impossible basketball scene with four actors playing up to eight characters, using reversible jerseys to switch back and forth. The story is not perfect in its revelations – a couple of clichés appear every now and then – but it’s the kind of show whose boundless ambition will inspire young directors, proving you don’t need an extravagant budget to create entertainment worthy of any stage or screen, big or small.
“The Sparrow†runs through Sunday at the Arsht Center’s Studio Theatre, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami. Tickets are $50. Call 305/949-6722.
