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| Tom Sawyer - First Stage Milwaukee Authentic portrayals, versatile stage set keep audience enthralled
"Tom Sawyer is about fences -- those that restrict, those that protect
-- and how we interact with them. Sometimes we climb them or wiggle to
freedom though a broken slat. At other times, we huddle inside while
enemies batter the gates.
The script . . . receives a real boost from Sarah Hunt-Frank's smart
intuitive set. For the entire play, the stage is dominated by an
enormous picket fence. It's weather-beaten and not all the slats match
up perfectly, but most of the time it does the job it's supposed to do
--just like the laws governing society.
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| During a scene set in Sunday school, some slats are removed and double
as benches. During the climactic scene in the cave, the fence breaks
apart and forms stalagmites behind which the children hide. The fence
is omnipresent; it served different functions, but the characters never
escape from it."
--Mary Carole McCauley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel March 1, 1999
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