A wonderfully flat thing

An adaptation of Mark Twain's short story "A Fable". An elderly Mark Twain is near despair with writer's block. He falls asleep.

His house Cat discovers a mirror that he has left uncovered, is amazed to see her reflection, and travels along a path to a clubhouse in the woods, where she reports on the "wonderfully flat thing" to her friends Donkey, Snake and Ostrich. Snake and Ostrich are intrigued, but Donkey does not believe it could be real. He goes to investigate for himself, and sees a donkey in the mirror.

On his return, the Elephant King arrives, and insists that first Snake and then Ostrich go to examine the flat thing. Finally, the Elephant King declares that he and all the animals will go together to resolve the mystery. The King's encounter with the mirror ends with a festive dance party that wakes Twain, who is astonished by his visitors and inspired to finish his tale.

 

text adaptation: Basmat Hazan ,Manju Shandler

director: Basmat Hazan 

puppets, costumes and set design: Manju Shandler 

choreography: Jesse Zaritt 

lights and video design: David Tirosh 

music: Tamar Rozin Muskal 

stage manager: Kara Kaufman 

starring: Etta Abramson, Lindsay Clark, Camille Cettina, Rachel Whitman, Jake Goodman and Jesse Zaritt.