A crowd of adults and children helped the Elden Street Players Theater for Young Audiences, now in its 11th season, kick-off its latest production of "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" on Saturday at Herndon's Industrial Strength Theater.
Melody Fetske has been working with the Elden Street Players since their inaugural campaign in 1990 and this is the third time she has directed "Piper."
Fetske, who lives in Herndon, said the story, though billed for young audiences, is not just for children. "Kids can relate, certainly," Fetske said. "I love this story because of its certain timelessness. Sure kids can relate, but there is a lot in it for anyone. Its message is a good one."
Though she has staged this production two other times, Fetske said she encourages her actors, both young and old, to bring their own perspectives and ideas to the roles. Elden Street bills itself as experimental theater and Fetske's willingness to listen to her actors, no matter their age or experience, is testament to that. "The plays evolve over time," she said. "The actors contribute a lot to their roles. I want them to draw on their many varied talents."
<b>IN THE LATEST</b> incarnation of Madge Miller's adaptation of a Robert Browning poem, a plague of rats once again infests the town of Hamelin in the Spring of 1294. The town, and its cabal of outlandish characters, is thought to be saved by the mercurial music of a mysterious piper. For 1,000 guilders, the piper leads the rats into the nearby Weser River. But when the town elders, led by Mayor Dekker and Councilor Holst, refuse to pay the piper, he charms their children with his pipe, and leads them to a nearby mountainside, where the walls of rock close around them. To get their children back, the elders must first realize what is most important to their lives.
Small-town theater companies and experimental troupes are known to plug in females for male roles and vice versa. Elden Street is no exception. Pamela James, landed the starring role as the Pied Piper. James, who moved to Herndon last year from Alexandria, is no stranger to the stage. She is a professional opera singer with the Wolf Trap Opera. "I have been doing theater for 20 years," she said. "Community theater is especially fulfilling because everybody you see here is doing it because they love it, not because they are waiting for a big pay check or waiting to be discovered.
In another gender-bending role, Dirk, the Ward of Hamelin, who is the conscious of the play, is played by Thoreau Middle School student Courtney Cilman of Vienna.
Cilman has been acting since the third grade and she says she wants to be acting on the big screen, the small screen and the Broadway stage someday. "Acting is just a lot of fun," the 13-year-old budding thespian said after Saturday's opening day. "I enjoy making people smile and this play definitely makes people smile."
While Cilman hasn't turned her back on her school's stage, she says she enjoys the variety that community theater has to offer. "I really like acting with people of all different ages," she said. "It's great to have so much variety."
Have the veterans imparted any wisdom on Cilman? "Yeah, they make sure I don't turn my back on the audience," she said.
<b>THOUGH ACCUSTOMED</b> to larger, and more mature, audiences in slightly more palatial digs than the Industrial Strength Theater, James, who also teaches music at the Nysmith School for the Gifted in Herndon, is excited about her role in the Elden Street production. For the first time, James is able to work with her 8-year-old daughter, Emily, who plays Anna Dekker, the spoiled daughter of Hamelin's morally- deficient mayor, Jan Dekker, played by John Shea.
"I am doing it because it's fun," said James, sporting her character's trademark red, yellow and blue smock after Saturday's performance. "Besides, I really like the message."
Most of the adults in attendance on Saturday afternoon were accompanied by several young school-age children. "Some of the parents would probably prefer some of our more adult-oriented main stage productions," Fetske, the director, said. "But I know that if you are a child at heart, you will go away happy."
Fetske said she loves the art of creating theater for an audience. "It's absolute madness," she said, "but it's also very satisfying when you see a smiling audience after the show."
After the abbreviated run ends later this month, Fetske will turn her attention to a much more dramatic, and certainly more controversial, piece when she is set to produce "Streamers," a Vietnam-era drama for Elden Street's main theater.
"After that, though, I am taking some time off," she said. "Not everyone appreciates what a huge effort it takes to put one of these shows on. It's a huge effort that takes away a big chunk of your life."
"The Pied Piper" will continue entertaining audiences with matinee shows on Nov. 9 and 16, at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Tickets are $5. Call 703-481-5930 for more information.