The Jones Great Room won’t be the place for munchies, a ping-pong tournament or educational seminars this weekend. Instead, Sit and Spin Productions, one of Northwestern’s newest theater groups, will feature an adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories.
Using an imaginative treehouse for the set, the eight-person ensemble creates a more intimate, storytelling-oriented space for their performances. The Jones Great Room, with its great acoustics despite a relatively small size, allows the actors to incorporate a lot of interaction with the audience during the show.
“We want our actors to really get up close and personal,” Communication sophomore and Just So director Tyler Beattie says. “We want everyone to mimic the oral tradition of storytelling.”
And the ensemble-focused Sit and Spin Productions wanted to promote an egalitarian approach to storytelling. No one performer dominates the show, which separates this production from most of the musical theatre pieces performed at Northwestern.
Drawing from Kipling’s famous work, which was originally published in 1902, the ensemble broke down the various stories. And with Kipling’s attempt to explain the origins of many natural phenomena, there was plenty of material to work with. The ensemble worked together to adapt the text and extract stories for their performance, with Beattie writing the accompanying music.
“We adapted the stories to make them a little more fun and entertaining, while doing justice to Kipling’s work as well,” Beattie says.
Just So is playing in the Jones Great Room, 1820 Sheridan Rd., Thurs., April 27 at 8 p.m., Fri., April 28 at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m and Sat. April 29 at 8 p.m. and 11 pm. Tickets cost $5 for students and $10 for general admission. Tickets will be available at the door.
– Michael Burgner