Review of Rose and the Rime at The House Theatre of Chicago

Once upon a time I went to a show and it was called Rose and the Rime. It was by Nathan Allen, Chris Mathews, and Jake Minton, and it was directed by Nathan Allen. It is about a girl named Rose (Paige Collins) who goes on this adventure to defeat a witch to get a coin. It is about girl power and how girl power's power can go a little too far sometimes. It is also about how stories can happen over and over again. I really liked this show. I think people should go see it because it is a very fun show but also there are some suspenseful moments.

I thought that all of the ensemble (Kara Davidson, Sam Guinan-Nyhart, Brandon Markell Holmes, Christine Mayland Perkins, Ericka Ratcliffe, Michael E. Smith, Jeremy Sonkin, Dan Toot, and Tamara White) were really awesome and good at portraying the villagers and the rabbits and the wolves. The villagers were easy to tell apart. For example, there was the artist, the drunk, the mail person, the old lady, and the guy who like barbecues. For some of the story they like Rose and some of the story they don't. They are all trying to do what is right, but the villagers' sadness gets them angry at Rose because they think she is causing all their troubles.

I thought that everybody did a great job using the rabbit puppets and making them seem alive. Of course the puppeteers were right there, so I knew that the rabbits weren't actually real, but they seemed kind of alive if you didn't look at the puppeteers. I thought that the bunny puppets were really really cute. The wolves were sort of scary; I thought that the wolf masks (by costume designer Melissa Torchia) were really cool. And the tree trick was really cool. I was sort of scared that the tree was going to fall on me--in a good way. I thought the swinging was really fun but scary. I thought that the swing and the trees and the rest of the set (by Collette Pollard) was also really awesome.

I thought that when Rose went sledding it was so fun I wanted to get on the sled with her. It was awesome because even though it didn't look really like she was sledding, her facial expression showed that she was going sledding. The people holding her up seemed strong. When it started snowing all around and they blew the snow, it was really cool.

Uncle Roger (Smith) was an interesting character because of how he was a part of the story because he was the guardian of Rose and not the mother or father. He was a fatherly figure and Rose thought of him as sort of a father, but he wasn't the father. In the end you are surprised about what you learn about Uncle Roger and how he doesn't have just one relationship with her family. I really liked when he was talking about where babies came from, but he talked about it in the strangest way: he said "They come from the oven." And when Rose said, "Why don't you make one now?" he said, "I can't make it. It is a very difficult recipe."

After Rose rescues the town and makes it summer, there are these two brothers who come along Charlie (Guinan-Nyhart) and Jimmy (Holmes). And they come from a regular place and they don't know about any curses or stuff like that. I thought that these characters provided a change in the show because of how they influenced Rose. The first half is Rose as a kid and the second half was about her being more grown up. Because of them you find out that she's growing up.

One of the cool but scary parts was when the Witch (Ratcliff) came on and starts talking to Rose and starts flying about with her giant ice claws. You don't really hate her because she is scary and attacks Rose but she doesn't actually hurt her. Even if she is an evil witch she is capable of loving people. You don't usually expect that from a witch, but it is true; the Witch actually loves people.

People who would like this show are people who like nice-evil witches, rabbits, and babies that come from the oven. This show is funny, suspenseful, and good to take your friends to. I took my friend Lana and we had a blast!

Photos: Michael Brosilow