The story follows Bilbo Baggins (Nick McGee), a Hobbit pressed into service to assist a band of dwarfs in recovering a huge treasure of jewels and gold stolen by the evil dragon Smaug. Our guide to Tolkien’s fantasy world is the Storyteller. Often bathed in a ghostly green light, Kalinda Gray lends cultured British diction, breathless excitement, and an otherworldly presence to the character. McGee’s performance suits Bilbo’s arc from comfort-loving homebody to brave and resourceful adventurer, a boisterous, vibrant chap who gets a buzz from action and danger. All five of the dwarfs—even the unimposing Fili (Robert Dean Nunez) and Kili (Gabriel Robins)—are hardy and stouthearted. Regal of bearing, Michael J. Keeney’s Thorin, the dwarfs’ leader, is noble, heroic, and courageous. Ryan Young’s ultramasculine Dwalin is steadfast and brave.
David Chorley’s bald, chalky-white, bizarre Gollum impresses as well. Even while suggesting the film versions’ Andy Serkis, Chorley puts his own stamp on the role. With his deep voice, flowing white beard, and robe and staff, Brian Page is an almost Moses-like Gandalf. Using a lightly Irish accent, Ryan O’Melia’s Elven King is highly civilized yet resolved to learn the dwarfs’ purpose in coming to Lonely Mountain.
Filling in around the main characters are Makaryk’s inventive, large-scale puppets and a sizable ensemble. The fearsome trolls are so huge that they can grip a man from head to toe in one hand. Using one actor for a troll’s head and voice and two more for each hand, Makaryk’s design ingeniously creates the illusion of massive size. Ditto for his giant, smoke-belching Smaug, which requires several actors to operate it. Designers Sarah Timm and Alexandra Wesevich’s 12-foot-high spider, Cob (Katt McLaren), is also a hoot.
Orchestral underscoring crescendos at climactic moments and softens at quieter ones. The play’s many fierce, carefully choreographed (by Makaryk and Martin Yrra) battle scenes are impressive for their precision and for creating the illusion that 15 ensemble members are an endless horde of foes. Heidi Newell’s costumes vary from basic (for the dwarfs and goblins) to handsome and ornate (for Thorin). Makaryk bathes his all-purpose set in reds, greens, and other hues, as well as in clouds of dry-ice steam. Some scene changes are clumsy, a flaw easy to overlook considering the intricacies of staging a sweeping epic in what amounts to a glorified black-box space. Purists may quibble, but most others will probably cheer.
Presented by the Maverick Theater and Improv Shmimprov at the Maverick Theater, 110 E. Walnut Ave., Suite B, Fullerton. June 1–July 14. Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 3 and 8 p.m. (714) 526-7070 or www.mavericktheater.com.
