Classika's Winning 'Fool' for All Ages

This one might be too good for just the kids. Classika Theatre's current family show is an original gem called "A Classical Fool." Director Nicholas Allen has created a pantomime performance piece designed for children as young as 4, but it is an affecting, touching love story that can be thoroughly enjoyed by the grownups who trudge along dutifully into the Shirlington storefront theater with their youngsters in tow.

Don't let the word pantomime scare you away. This is not the annoying white-faced and self-indulgent movement of invisible walls and fireplace mantles. It's pure storytelling, told through choreography that is both gently expressive and explosively comic, and set to familiar classical music. More than anything else, it resembles the silent films of Charlie Chaplin.

In some indeterminate time and place, a gentle bumbler, called The Fool, falls in love with a charming young woman, called The Girl. Unfortunately for The Fool, The Girl is also being pursued by a sharpie known as The Suitor. And The Suitor will do whatever it takes to separate this fool from his honey and take her for himself.

In what is perhaps an homage to Chaplin, there is a Keystone-type cop in the opening scene, one of four characters skillfully played by Katherine Frattini. She prods The Fool, played by Allen, out of his slumber on a park bench and has him remove the newspaper placed over his face. But in a marvelously detailed bit of comic business, The Fool keeps replacing the newspaper from a stack spread over his body, much to the immediate delight of the children.

Allen returns to performing after a two-year hiatus spent directing and creating works for Classika. He digs deeply into the unique movement-based performance disciplines of Classika's adult partner, Synetic Theatre. The result is that "A Classical Fool" is more lyrical and lovely than the usual kiddie fare. Allen doesn't forget his mission to entertain the tykes, though. Thus, a poignant pas de deux between The Fool and The Girl, gracefully played by Laura Rocklyn, is punctuated by a climax in which The Fool ends up kissing a mop rather than The Girl. The kids burst into laughter after having been silent, in rapt attention, for the preceding scene.

The relatively modern urban skyline backdrop in Jan Forbes's minimalist set also aids in setting this piece apart from the usual bucolic, Eastern European settings of so many children's stories. And Allen has added little flourishes that the kids might not notice but that their parents will appreciate. For example, after The Suitor, played by Ben Levine, believes he has forced The Girl to choose him over The Fool, he celebrates with wine for the two of them. But as The Suitor sips his glass, she is sniffing, in synchronized movement, a rose The Fool gave her.

Among the composers whose works Allen uses are Johann Strauss Jr. ("The Blue Danube" waltz), Amilcare Ponchielli ("Dance of the Hours" from the opera "La Gioconda"), Franz Lizst (one of the "Hungarian Rhapsodies"), Claude Debussy ("Clair de Lune") and Johannes Brahms ("Hungarian Dances," No. 5). These and the other pieces are familiar and family-friendly.

It might seem too subtle for the youngest kids in the audience, but they remained focused and attentive, quiet when the show was quiet, and laughing when it was funny. And there is plenty of laughter during the requisite chase scene, an extended bit of frantic movement that has the four actors running on and off stage and using every portal possible.

When it eventually faded to black, with The Fool and The Girl finally sharing a kiss, only about 42 minutes had elapsed. I'm thinking sequel.

"A Classical Fool" continues through Nov. 16 at Classika Theatre, 4041 Campbell Ave., in Arlington's Shirlington Village. Showtime Saturdays and Sundays is 12:30 p.m. Tickets are available at 800-494-8497. Tickets plus information are availablehttp://at www.classika.org.