Florida Studio Theatre Presents: Red Riding Hood
Audiences will experience the timeless fairy tale, Red Riding Hood, told with a comedic twist. When the famous actor Wolfgang is interrupted by a delivery driver with a mysterious package during his one-man production of “Little Red Riding Hood,” the actor and his unlikely partner must try to tell the story together. Two actors tackle all of the roles in this furiously fast and surprising adaptation of the famous fable, which asks us what it means to bravely write our own story.
Learn more about Red Riding Hood | Q and A with BEN LIEBERT, DIRECTOR
1. We all know Red Riding Hood, but I’d be willing to bet that everyone’s tale is a little different. How does this play honor storytelling traditions?
This version of the story embraces that we all know the story, and all know it a little differently. That's
what's so fun about fairy tales, how they morph and change for the times and for the storyteller. This is play, not a book or movie, and rather meta, so that gets to be our version.
2. I distinctly remember my version of Red Riding Hood having 4 characters – how do you make a play with only 2 actors? What does having only 2 actors allow us to experience, rather than casting it literally?
Because our Red Riding Hood story is a play-within-a-play, we get to watch two actors play all the parts, using stage craft and theatricality to switch back and forth. This just adds to the post-modern zaniness of a story we all know.
3. What lessons can parents take away from this adaptation – how can they carry the spirit of Gregory’s Red Riding Hood home with them?
There's a lot to be pulled from this Red Riding Hood: how we can overcome our differences to work together, that being a team is better than going at it alone, and that sometimes we should look at the traditional and reimagine it to serve us better.
4. Red Riding Hood isn’t something we think as comical – how does comedy function in this piece? What were your inspirations and how do they affect the story told?
Comedy is integral to this play, originating the conflict between our two actors about how the story should be told. And then we just leaned into the silliness. There is a lot of inspiration from Vaudeville, black and white movies and early television (Lucille Ball, the Marx Brothers, Abbott and Costello) as well as newer sketch comedy (Key and Peele, Saturday Night Live, A Black Lady Sketch Show)
5. What do you hope families learn about Children’s Theatre through seeing Red Riding Hood?
I hope our audiences feel the joy of live theater, sitting in a room with other people and laughing. Sometimes plays have big messages to impart but sometimes, like in this show, plays are just fun. And couldn't we all use a little fun in our lives?
January 2024 Shows
Sunday, 01/07/2024 at 10AM
Saturday, 01/13/2024 at 10AM
Saturday, 01/13/2024 at 12PM
Sunday, 01/21/2024 at 10AM
Saturday, 01/27/2024 at 10AM
Saturday, 01/27/2024 at 12PM
February 2024 Shows
Sunday, 02/04/2024 at 10AM
Saturday, 02/10/2024 at 10AM
Subscriptions and tickets are now on sale at 941.366.9000 or FloridaStudioTheatre.org.
CONGRATULATIONS TO RUBY COVARRUBIAS WHO WON TICKETS TO THIS SHOW!
