The mystery that is "Skellig" is a treat to be savored by those, young and old, who seek theatrical magic. It succeeds in imbuing a child's contemporary workaday world with a timeless sense of wonder. This 1998 award-winning children's novel, by David Almond, is here adapted by the author for the stage and presented by the Birmingham Stage Company in a skillfully cohesive production. Almond's multilayered story combines such diverse elements as alienation, Chinese takeout, evolution, soccer, nesting birds, friendship, dreams, family, a derelict house, the need for faith, the poet William Blake, a mended heart, and angels. And all these Almond delivers with well-observed sentiment without once descending to the sentimental.
Young Michael (Dean Logan) has just moved with his dad (Colin R. Campbell) and pregnant mum (Charlotte Palmer) to an old but bigger house, because of the growing family. When the baby is born prematurely, she has breathing problems and is soon seriously ill. Left to his own devices, Michael, against his parent's strict warning, enters the rickety garage on the property. Here he discovers a kind of man, an evil-smelling tramp of few words, to whom Michael delivers aspirin and Chinese leftovers. This is the character who later will be known as Skellig (Neal Foster). To make sure he hasn't imagined his strange discovery, Michael asks his new next-door friend, Mina (Charlotte Sanderson), to accompany him. Mina, homeschooled and wise beyond her years, reassures Michael that "truth and dreams are always getting muddled"; together, they prove that Skellig is real and might even have wings. The help they give this tramp will change their lives and the lives of the people they love.
One of the catch cries in the story is "Extraordinary!," and this adjective is especially applicative to the cast, a true ensemble in every way. Under Phil Clark's wonderfully fluid direction, the versatile actors play several roles, plus a musical instrument or two, and aid with the narration. On Jacqueline Trousdale's imaginative junk pile of a set, with help from Jak Poore's lively score, the story speeds along. The two young protagonists are nicely contrasted: Logan's bewildered Everyboy and Sanderson's insightful, free-spirited Mina. Foster's Skellig easily moves from his early roughness to tenderness in a late scene of star-filled redemption.
At the performance attended, as the audience moved out, nearby parents looked to their 10-year old for her reaction. Clearly a critic in the making, she looked up to state: "Absolutely astounding!"
Presented by the New 42nd Street at the New Victory Theater, 209 W. 42nd St., NYC. March 4–13. Fri., 7 p.m.; Sat., 2 and 7 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m. (646) 223-3010 or www.newvictory.org.