Review: ASTRO BOY AND THE GOD OF COMICS at Flying V

Astro Boy has been around since 1951, a comic book superhero without any of the psychological baggage of today's superheroes. Astro Boy provides the simple escapism missing from today's overheated, DC/Marvel existential franchises. He's, well, a boy, but like his American cousin, Data, he's also a well-oiled machine (a literal "oil can!" is one of Oli Brann's excellent props) with a heart of robotic gold. Natsu Onoda Power's play brings him to life while simultaneously telling the story of his creator, Osamu Tezuka, the father of Manga, and the eponymous god of the title.

Power's media are her message, however. She prefers a portmanteau of theatrical devices for storytelling rather than the usual suspects of the text of a play, lights, et. al. So Astro Boy and the God of Comics gets told with moving images, projections, video cameras, screens, drawings, 6 actors, puppets, movement, photography, and kamishibai (a traveling Japanese art form combining theatre and illustration). The show uses strobe lights, and there are some necessary explosions. But this is a great show for audiences 13 and up. And for all its technological savvy, it provides relief for audiences of every age from cell phone use. The remarkable technical collaborators include Patti Kalil (Scenic Design), Dylan Uremovich (Lighting Design), Madeline Oslejsek (Sound Design), Mark Costello (Projection Design), and Brann (Properties and Puppetry Designs).

Janine Baumgardner makes a sweet and lively Astro Boy, and Jennifer Knight's Tezuka offers moments of depth. But this production does not call for realistic acting so much as it requires ensemble teamwork, timing, and versatility. A couple of the motion picture sequences throw the timing off by lasting a wee bit too long, but the live timing has fluency, and director Dylan Arrendondo has ensured clarity of focus in a very busy space. Unclear is why Power chose to tell Tezuka's and Astro Boy's stories in reverse chronological order. Audiences unfamiliar with these very important 20th-century figures--an important innovator in the history of the art of animation and an important character in the history of superheroes--may get lost in the backward shuffle. But magical moments supersede chronology: when Astro Boy must fly into the sun to save humanity, an umbrella and a clothesline do the job, and the power of simplicity stars; when his scientist father must build the robot Astro Boy, the whole cast operates a rotating, four-sided, plywood, phone booth-sized item on wheels with doors and images and velcro and moving parts. . . magical. (Um, a phone booth is a dressing room where Clark Kent can change his clothes--or, you know, just ask your grandparents.)

The black and white 1960s TV version of Astro Boy remains hard to find, but the 1980s and 2000s versions can be streamed, as can the excellent 2009 film with Freddie Highmore voicing the title role and Nicholas Cage dubbing his father. And now, through November 3, there's a 95-minute, intermission-free live-action production, BTW very well suited to the Black Box Theatre in Silver Spring. This is the kind of superhero we can use right now.

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