As summer draws to a close and fall begins, Carleton’s very own student-run theatre company—otherwise known as Sock ‘n’ Buskin—is busy prepping for their fall line-up of performances.
Sock ‘n’ Buskin is starting off this year with a performance of The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon, a play where a group of fairy-tale characters attempt to combine and adapt 209 of the original Brothers Grimm fairy tales into a whirlwind of dark comedy.
Meg Sutton, the play’s director, said the show bridges the gap between the light and fun happily-ever-after aspect of Disney and the darkness of the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tales.
“We’re going back to when Cinderella did have evil step-sisters, but they were beautiful, and did end up cutting off their toes and heels, but the show kind of makes a joke out of it,” Sutton said. “The scene becomes a thousand percent lighter than reading the book or the original tale itself.”
Sutton said her best friend inspired her to submit this show to the theatre company after reading the play to each other on a late night FaceTime call.
“We just couldn’t stop laughing,” Sutton said. “It was at that moment I realized how fun the show was and how much it translated to other people and not just myself, and I really wanted to show that to other people.”
She wasn’t the only one who thought it sounded fun.
“It just seems like such a fun show to be in,” Matthew Venner, an artistic director at Sock ‘n’ Buskin said. “It really just takes those fairy tales and smushes them all together and turns them upside down, but because of that, it’s really high energy and frenetic and every second line is a joke.”
Sutton encourages anyone who has an interest in contemporary theatre, satire, comedy or fantasy to come out and see the show.
“The audience should expect to have the biggest smiles on their faces and to have their sides hurting,” Sutton stated. “It’s a good time to see what Carleton has behind the academic side. It’ll be a good night all around.”
Tamara LaPlante, the actress playing the roles of Little Red as well as Rumplestiltskin in Brothers Grimm, said she’s had a positive experience with the company.
“It is my home at Carleton, it’s the thing I’m most proud of being a part of,” she said.
Sock ‘n’ Buskin will also continue putting on performances throughout the rest of the year, with LaPlante directing an upcoming production Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.
“Sock ‘n’ Buskin is always a thing that I look forward to,” LaPlante said.
Aaron Cooze, a first-year student at Carleton and one of the narrators for Brothers Grimm, said it’s been a good experience so far..
“It’s been really fun. I’ve really liked meeting everyone and I really like how the artistic directors take an active involvement in all of the plays,” he said.
The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon premieres on Nov. 16 and will run until Nov. 19 at the Kailash Mital Theatre.
