Day 4 -- 2:30 p.m. Time Slot

Show: In Another's Size

Company: SteppingStone Theater

Venue: Mixed Blood Theatre

Die Roll: None (My daughter chose this show)


I have certain self-imposed restrictions that I put in place when I review educational theatre productions. I don't review performances of individual youths who are developing their skills as actors. It doesn't behoove a child to get ripped up one side and down another. It doesn't help them get better. Basically, I'll wait until a kid is either 1) acting in a professional company, and therefore not in an educational setting, or 2) said kid is a shining example of what is good about educational theatre. In the second instance I am not pointing out, nor criticizing, the skills of said kid, but merely pointing out that the activity in which they are partaking and the behavior they are exhibiting are of quality and are desirable.

I point this out because SteppingStone Theatre is a leader among the many educational theatres in the Twin Cities. The play that they put forth here is another example of the terrific work they do.

In Another's Size is a show that tells the story of a bunch of kids who all get swapped into each other's bodies and learn from the experience to be more tolerant of each others' differences. It is narrated by a "Lunch Lady" played by professional comedic actor Brian Kelly (of Triple Espresso and The Temp fame, among other things).

The kids in this show wrote it with the assistance of Joe Scrimshaw, some guy who has some sort of credentials in comedy and Fringe-stuffs.

The kids in this show, all the way around, performed at a high level. They projected. They cheated out correctly. They communicated with each other. They captured the characters that they originally portrayed, and (even better) they captured the characters who later inhabited their bodies.

My daughter thought this show was the best of the five shows we saw on this particular day, and I would have to agree with her. The plot wasn't amazingly complex, but it had enough turns in there to make it rewarding and something better than the After-School-Special type fare that this show could've become. It was funny, endearing, teased a little, but didn't even come close to being inappropriate for children.

All the kids were quite talented and I really enjoyed the multiple characterizations that Kelly pulled off.

My one complaint... and this is actually about society in general, it just happens to be reflected in this piece a lot. Apparently at some point the origin of using the phrase "This Sucks" and its derivatives has been lost on the current generation of youth. I, for one, do not let my daughter say that around the house. I find it rude to have her implying anything about fellatio when she doesn't even know what that is yet. I would find it rude even if she did know. I find it unacceptable that the phrase "You Suck" has replaced "You stink" in our collective vocabularies. If this show is actually for ages 6 and up, perhaps having an insult that suggests that the target engages in lewd oral sex ought not to be in it. But... like I said. Really, it's a complaint about how our language has lost its meaning and something originally meant to be offensive had essentially lost its meaning through common use.

Otherwise... Congrats, all! Great show.

TEN WORD SUMMARY: High Schoolers swap bodies and become their friends and enemies.

Rating: d20 - "One of the Best"