BRATTLEBORO — With acting, dancing, and shadow puppets, the Theatre Adventure Youth Troupe of the New England Youth Theatre (NEYT) will carry audiences to a story of the innocent bravery of children and the power of devotion and love to overcome all hardships in a play based on the 1871 fairy tale The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald.
The timeless tale by MacDonald, a Scottish author, poet, and minister, takes place in an old-country setting.
MacDonald's tale, adapted for stage by Carol Lawson, is spun with magic and danger.
The back-cover copy for one version of the book describes the plot:
“Princess Irene's discovery of a secret stair to the top turret of the castle leads to a wonderful revelation. At the same time, the miner's son Curdie overhears a fiendish plot by the goblins who live below the mountain.
“But it will take all their wit and courage, and the help of Irene's magic ring, to make sense of their separate knowledge and foil the goblins' schemes.”
A percussion band will create the sounds of this other world that includes Grandmother's tower, Curdie's mountain-side cottage, and the miners' and Goblin's caves beneath the mountain.
“With inspiring acting, dancing, and shadow puppets, the Theatre Adventure Youth Troupe will carry audiences to a story of the innocent bravery of children, comical cunning of the Goblins, as well as the power of devotion and love to overcome all hardships,” according to a NEYT press release.