Tales from the Hundred-Acre Wood a rousing success

By Christian N. Kraus

I’ll admit to some bias here—I mean, I was the producer.

But, the performance of Tales From the Hundred-Acre Wood, performed Thursday, May 4, was an absolute and total success.

We had one shot at getting everything right; it was a one night only show.

The pressure was on.

But, I’ve never seen a cast any cooler under that pressure.

I’ve never seen a cast have more fun.

I’ve never seen a cast take more joy from what they were doing.

I’ve never seen a cast come together and work as a single ensemble unit more effectively than they did.

It was simply delightful to watch unfold.

I watched it all from my place in the control booth, having to run sound and narrate, too. But, even I found myself smiling uncontrollably and having a “grand old time” as Christopher Robin and Pooh, Owl and Piglet and Rabbit, moved from one great adventure to another.

The set was impeccably designed and executed.

The costumes were simply perfect.

The special effects were ingeniously conceived.

The acting was natural and honest and true—those weren’t actors playing roles, it was really the gang from the Hundred-Acre wood up there.

And the audience was superb, with the show drawing what one attendee noted was the biggest crowd he’d ever seen at an EGSC performance.

The show was simply a rousing success for the cast and crew, and the whole thing, from the script writing to the set and costumes, to the final production owes its success to one person: Sydney Guy.

There was a team of writers, of course, but Sydney was the one who lead the writing team and the one who made necessary last-minute script changes when unforeseen challenges forced the actor playing the father role to back out of the performance, becoming a disembodied narrator voice instead.

There was a set crew, too, but the painting effects, most all the detail work, and the actual design of it all was Sydney’s brainchild.

And it was her direction during the months of rehearsals that resulted in the easy and truthful portrayal of that band of forever friends from the Hundred-Acre Wood.

If you missed the show, you truly missed a treat.

But, maybe…just maybe…those dear old friends will visit again one day.

We can only hope so.

Scene from the performance