Photo Credit: Madison McGrath
The Cardinal Stritch University Theater Department tackles a revisited classic with The Emperor’s New Clothes, boasting about the script being a “world premiere” and having a dramaturg on board. The story isn’t much different from the original tale by Hans Christian Andersen: The emperor wants new clothes, a swindler offers him so-called invisible clothes, and peer pressure ensures that nobody dares to call the swindler out. These are all the beats the Stritch performance hits as well.
This version adds Ludovico, a caricature of a modern fashion designer played by Axel Román, who delivers almost exclusively physical comedy. While the main story unfolds, Ludovico has his own quest to meet the emperor, but he keeps tumbling off the path and falling into the sea in massive splashes of water. Azucena Reyes plays Lupo, a street rat who finds Ludovico’s bag and letter of introduction to the emperor and impersonates him, pretending to be a “Tailor Extraordinaire.”
Reyes is the most energetic member of a cast of mostly toned-down actors. As evidenced by the fashion event near the end of the play, Reyes would be a great emcee in a variety show. Despite being the title character, the emperor (Daniel Zavala) is little more than a mannequin; in this version, he is a socially awkward teenager who is peer-pressured to change his style by his ministers of fashion.
The play struggles to be free itself of the shackles of its script, which simply plays the Andersen story straight. There are minor changes, such as the emperor’s aides being secretly Ludovico’s daughters, who were lost at sea, but they are easily forgettable. The show’s strength is that it is short, to-the-point and has rather high production value, with colorful drapes and effort put into comedic effects. As announced at the beginning, this is a kids’ show, less than one hour long; it doesn’t embarrass itself with deep character development or social commentary, but it can be a fun outing for children.
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Through Feb. 23 at the Nancy Kendall Mainstage Theater at Cardinal Stritch University, 6801 N. Yates Road.
