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Summary:
In this tale, the young Vasilisa must confront the evils of Baba Yaga the forest witch in hopes of bringing fire home to her family.
Principle:
In the deep dark forests of the Russian skazka tales, many small children are said to have been eaten by the forest witch Baba Yaga.
Aesthetic:
This production was created for a family event called ‘Whirligig’ held at Seattle Center every spring. The performance took place on the Center House Stage.
The tale begins with Vasilisa’s mother dying, and giving her a special doll. Vasilisa’s father remarries, and two wicked stepsisters come into her life. The stepsisters, jealous of Vasilisa’s beauty, send her into the woods to Baba Yaga’s hut, and certain demise. Vasilisa arrives at the forest witch’s abode and is presented with a series of challenges that she must overcome in order to retrieve the fire she seeks. With the aid of her magic doll, the challenges are successfully completed, and she returns home with a grisly memento of her visit to Baba Yaga.
Baba Yaga’s hut, as depicted in Russian folklore, is made of bones and sits atop chicken legs. It rotates throughout the day, an eerie life form unto itself. To represent this, an elaborate stilt costume was constructed. Stilt legs were transformed into chicken legs and a backpack-mounted hut covered the upper body of the stiltwalker. The bone-adorned hut measured 3’ square with a 4’ high roof. Inside the hut, the stiltwalker operated a Baba Yaga puppet that interacted with Vasilisa.
Vasilisa’s magical doll was also represented in this tale. When Vasilisa was awake, she carried a 3’ tall rag doll under her arm. When she went to sleep each night, a life-sized human version of the doll emerged and completed Vasilisa’s impossible chores with delight and merriment.
Dancers dressed in white, red, and black represented Baba Yaga’s three sons: bright day, red sun, and black night. A pyrotechnic effect marked Vasilisa’s return home with the fire her stepsisters had sent her to find.
A percussionist, violinist, and narrator rounded out the tale with appropriate sound effects, musical accompaniment and explanations as the storyline progressed.
Retrospective:
Performing amongst the food court din on the Center House main stage proved to be a challenge. Body microphones on Vasilisa and Baba Yaga helped the sound carry effectively. The children and adults in our audience responded very enthusiastically to the production.
Images
The Magical Doll Watches the Bone Juggler in Baba Yaga's Hut