Saturday, October 17^th, I was lucky enough to see Prana’s production of a book that made it all the way to Broadway, Tuck Everlasting. Performed out in the parking lot of Christ the King Church, this was a non-musical version of the Broadway show. An outstanding job was done by eight teenagers portraying a family that got stuck, not tuck, in time.

Mae and Angus Tuck, played ably by Ally Forbes and Alex Cashin, come riding into town in a horse driven carriage to see what has become of their former home. They have been either blessed or cursed by the spring water on their property. After drinking from the magical water, they never grow a day older. The play asks the question, would someone really want to live forever? The Fountain of Youth has been sought after in literature for thousands of years, going back to Greek mythology. But this play shows the downside.

Winnie Foster, played with verve and sincerity by Charlotte Wolfstich, happens to meet a handsome youth named Jessie in the woods. Jessie is played with great enthusiasm by Ruby O’Brien. Because he is a Tuck, he answers correctly when Winnie asks how old he is: 104. From here on in, the play involves a kidnapping, a horse theft, and murder and a jailbreak.

With Caroline Monteith satisfyingly rounding out the cast as Miles Tuck, the Tuck family show the sadness of being consigned to living eternally.  The young never have a chance to grow old. Accused of witchcraft or sorcery, they have to live on the edges of society. A father is divorced by his wife when she sees him remain the same age, as their children advance in age.

Jessie tries to convince Winnie, who is a Foster and therefore will only be ten for a year’s time, to take some of the enchanted water and drink it at age 17 so they can marry and live forever. But Winnie, seeing the plight of the outcasts, pours the water on a toad instead.

Saachi Chandrakant plays the villain, the Stranger, with a clever, devilish twist. He tries blackmail to get the rights to the magical water. Taylor Coughlin gives a fine performance as Winnie’s Granny, and speaks poetry at intervals in the action. The constable, played with pride by Sophie Rickman, has a comic role as an officer but doubles as the narrator.

These teenagers did a remarkable job of speaking through masks and staying socially distanced while crossing the stage, acting out rowing a boat, acting out eating and sleeping and even acting out wielding an ax. The play lasted an hour and every line was memorized expertly. It was an amazing performance considering all the restrictions, with great sound effects and it was performed in a parking lot! Great praise is to be given to Roberta Weiner for giving new meaning to the phrase “the show must go on!”

Prana also presented a youth performance of The Secret Garden this weekend, outdoors at CTK Church, with 5th-8th graders. Cast included (L-R) Olivia Beaudet, Natalie Bailey, Adele Boggess, Drew Cummings, Abigail Halstead, Michael Crandall-McBride, Julia Molloy and Margaux Pellissier

Dickon, Colin and Mary in the Secret Garden. Such an appropriate play to be performed outside!