"We Are In A Play" by Mo Willems

It was absolutely the best, best, bestus piece of theater I have been to in a long, long time.  It was the best piece of children's theater I have ever seen.  It had two four-year-olds who missed a nap and were off schedule engaged on the edge of their seats at a 5 p.m. performance.  And of course it is the thing to do with the preschool and early elementary school set in the D.C. area in December 2013.  Mo Willems again proves that he is an absolute genius, and the defining children's author of this generation.

I am a huge Mo Willems fan.  Heck, I even named my little girl Beatrix, and while I have tried to push the nickname Bea (her brother prefers Ducky), her pseudo-cousins insist her name is Trixie.  Whenever Knuffle Bunny is read, she reverts to Trixie for at least three days.  Mo Willems has a way of writing that appeals to small children as well as grown ups - the kids do not always get the humor, or the random in-jokes (for example, in Goldie Locks and the Three Dinosaurs there are references to asteroids and Three Mile Island).  The stories are entertaining, and don't make me want to stab my eyes out after reading them for the fiftieth time that week.  

The Elephant and Piggie series is about two best friends, worrywart elephant Gerald (male) and happy-go-lucky pig Pigge (female).  The two friends are opposites yet best friends.  They have various adventures and the books and illustrations are very minimalist, yet incredibly emotionally powerful.  My son decided he was more like Gerald, and his friend declared she was more like Piggie - but after a minute or two of thought, he decided he was mostly like Gerald and a little bit like Piggie, and his friend mostly like Piggie and a little bit like Gerald.  

The play itself is absurdist theater at its best.  As Mo Willems explains in the Washington Post, Gerald and Piggie have a series of existential crises until they realize they are, in fact, in a play.  The plot includes several Elephant and Piggie books - We are in a Book,  I Love My New Toy, I am Invited to a Party, Listen to My Trumpet, I am Going, and Should I Share My Ice-cream? The players include Gerald, Piggie, the Squirrelles, Delivery Dog, and the Ice Cream Pigeon.  I was disappointed not to see the armless snake, my favorite of the guest character in the books.

The acting was outstanding.  Though the costuming did not include actual elephant or pig costumes, the costuming and acting managed to convey the fundamental essence of Gerald and Piggie.  The costuming was brilliant - a pink dress, tights, and pink shoes, along with hair sculpted into tiny pigtail buns mimicking a pig's ears for Piggie, and a blue-gray jacket, pants, shirt, and tie with texture mimicking a pachyderm's skin for Gerald.  

Tickets available here - http://www.kennedy-center.org/events/?event=KOTBA

Puppet Co. at Glen Echo Park

We finally did something for BeaABH.  The poor child spends her entire life being carted after her big brother.  Its the curse of being born to two oldest children.  The Puppet Company, resident in Glen Echo Park, holds "Tiny Tots" puppet shows specifically aimed at the zero to four crowd.  Lights are partially on, doors stay open, the puppeteer is visible, seating is on the floor, the shows are limited to 30 minutes, and the tickets are cheap.  

We saw "A Teddy Bear Picnic" joining Baby Bear and his friends as they sang and danced.  I'm not actually sure there was a plot.  BeaABH loved the music and loved tracking the puppets with her eyes.  ChaseKBH threw a fit before going, then asked when we were going back.

Getting to the puppet theater from the parking lot is a bit of a hike, though it is all stroller accessible.  It was particularly exciting for me, as my Dad had a hand in designing some of the roadways and bridges in that area, and I remember seeing a lot of it as construction sites.  ChaseKBH liked climbing over the bridge.  He was a bit creeped out by the amusement park section - which is just what it sounds like, a giant defunct amusement park.  The carousel is restored and active, and runs until September 30, and the bumper car pavilion is used for dances.  There are art studios in yurts.  It's actually pretty cool, but a little surreal.

There's a playground near the theater - very much geared to very small children (as in the three year old was bored), but great to run around in before or after a show.