'Wolf' howls in shame

The Performance Network publicized its current show, "The Moon Wolf," as a family piece, describing it as "delightful for children 8 to 108." While it is difficult to find children who are 108 years old, even more difficult is finding anyone, children or adult, who will be delighted watching this original piece. Adults will likely laugh at it; children will find it more boring than C-Span.

Presented by the Ellipsis Theatre Ensemble and written and directed by the ensemble's founder, Joanna Hastings, the show is a cluttered, yet slow-moving mix of a children's fable and experimental theatre. Featuring a cast of six women, including Hastings, as the storyteller, in the only speaking (non-howling) role, the show describes the adventures of a wolf who travels from the moon to assist a mother in finding her three lost children.

The story itself, a wholly non-Aesopian spiritual journey with a hint of Native American folklore, captivates the audience amidst the distractions found just about everywhere else in the production.

The costumes and scenery suggest a Midsummer-esque, dreamlike world, a celebration of spandex (Roger Corman would be proud) not to mention Saran Wrap, neon and a hanging rope.

Enter the title character, portrayed by Stacy Cole, who alternately sings and howls her dialogue, which eventually becomes as irritating as Goat-boy. Moving across the stage, she also looks strangely like Carmen Electra doing Rum Tum Tugger.

The Wolf quickly meets up with a woman bound in chains who is complaining about the loss of her three children, whom the Wolf then vows to locate and return to their mother.

The audience is then subjected to 30 minutes of this Wolf's journey, which hurriedly loses any interesting qualities when we realize that the same thing is going to happen with each of the three children. Kids may enjoy repetition, but even in "The Three Little Pigs," the third pig got away.

More like a particularly tripped-out episode of "Reading Rainbow" than a children's theatre piece, "The Moon Wolf" has other factors working against it. The music, provided by Scott Screws, is an unpleasant mish-mash of percussive noise, at times approaching comical heights. (If you listen closely, you can hear barking dogs and farts).

The music, however, like the rest of the show, comes together at the end and turns out to mean something. Buried underneath all the ineffective imagery is a surprisingly touching story of motherhood and freedom. Unfortunately, this is a story which would have been served better as a fable rather than a play.

"Teen Wolf," or even "Teen Wolf Too," are far better wolf-themed works than this. At least these movies don't take themselves too seriously.

The Performance Network is located at 408 W. Washington. Performances are tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $12. For more information, call 663-0681.

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