At the end of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's novella, the Little Prince decides to return home after exploring the universe. He reassures his aviator friend that he won't be completely gone; the aviator only has to look up at the stars to remember him and his laugh.
Similarly, even though The Little Prince has ended its Midwest tour, it won't be the last of the show. The play will come to the stage again in December for SAU's annual children's show, and the Prince is even making some special appearances in other departments around SAU's campus.
SAU Theatre Department Chair Daniel Rairdin-Hale has also returned to campus after concluding his sabbatical project. The Little Prince designer, puppeteer, and actor is back in Galvin, where he presented at the SAU Theatre Department picnic, taught dance choreography at SAU's Big Fish auditions in August, and of course, is teaching a variety of fall courses. He will also direct SAU's production of The Little Prince this winter.
He's already preparing for the production by starting to cast new masks for the six adults that the Little Prince meets on his travels before reaching earth. Theatre students and anyone interested in mask-making can come to some of his sessions to observe and learn throughout the long process. (Rairdin-Hale put in six weeks of work to develop the first set of masks!)
He's also building a new Prince puppet, which posed complex challenges when created the first time due to the operating joints on the puppet's arms.
Whether the new costumes and puppets are being created to better fit new actors or because the originals took some wear and tear, one thing is certain: the characters, puppets, and members of the show saw and experienced quite a bit this summer!
After closing their three-weekend run at the QC Theatre Workshop on May 19, the cast and crew of The Little Prince packed up the set, costumes, and other necessities and took off for the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts in Coralville, IA, where they performed the first weekend of June. A few weeks later, they packed up again, this time heading to the Beverly Arts Center in Chicago.
The three-person cast, small crew, and various puppets delighted audiences of all ages at their three performance locations. The show was quietly contemplative and lively, and all throughout was lovingly crafted with detail.
From the aviator's sketches to the whimsical lights and music of the Prince's home to the Prince's hand gestures and swinging feet while sitting, the show beautifully came to life. Long after the closing monologue, the show left adults and children pondering different layers of friendship, growing up, imagination and living in the moment.
Children and adults alike delighted in stepping into the Little Prince's world after shows to get photos with the characters, interact with the puppets and explore the set up close. One child at the show even approached the painted desert circle on the floor, touched it curiously and looked shocked to find the splatter paint was not actual sand!
The cast members appealed to the visitors' childlike curiosity, and Rairdin-Hale even spoke to all the visitors in character as the Little Prince. Cast member Amelia Fischer's (SAU alum '16) gentle, friendly Fox character greeted the children who approached while adult audience members admired the complex puppetry.
As the business of the school year sets in, try to remember the Prince and take some time to look at the sunset and stars or spend time with friends and family. Also, keep an eye out! Classes in both the art history and graphic design majors will work with the novella and its philosophical and visual themes, so you might see the Prince around campus even before the children's show.
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