Acorn's Fairy Tale Players End Season and RUMPELSTILTSKIN 5/23

Acorn Productions (90 Bridge Street, Westbrook) will close its seasons final production, RUMPELSTITSKIN, by the company's new Fairy Tale Players, on May 23 in the Acorn Studio Theater in Westbrook's Dana Warp Mill. Fairy Tale Players are an ensemble of adult and child actors who have trained in Acorn's Acting Academy. Acorn's Producing Director adapts and directs a version of this well-known story in which a fast-talking magical creature turns straw into gold for a miller's daughter who wishes to marry the king.

Acorn's version of Rumpelstiltskin has added a new twist to this classic tale in that the title character is subject to a witch's spell that forces him to do her bidding. Once the miller's daughter discovers Rumpelstiltskin's secret, the two work with a friendly rat to dream up a plan that ends with a crazy game of charades and the requisite happy ending. As with all Fairy Tale Players productions, this adaptation has its tongue firmly in its cheek in keeping with the "fractured fairy tales" aesthetic the young company has adopted as its trademark. Adults will enjoy the more sophisticated humor the company has added to its adaptation, ensuring a great hour of theater for the entire family.

The Acorn Studio Theater is a 40-seat black box space located in the Dana Warp Mill in downtown Westbrook. Acorn Productions is a 501(c)3 organization founded in 1998, and dedicated to increasing awareness of and participation in the performing arts by all members of the community. The inaugural season of the Fairy Tale Players is made possible by a generous grant from the Rines/Thompson Fund administered by the Maine Community Foundation.

Photo: from left to right, Sophie Sturdee and Brooke Dawson