Goblin Market

When we think of Victorians we usually conjure up a picture of an uptight and sexually repressed society where the poor were desperately poor and the rich a class of snooty spoiled socialites who didn’t need to work but had to know the rules of polite society.  Are we so far from this stereotypic image ourselves, with our downtown streets teaming with the homeless and the mentally ill or our media following the every move of Paris Hilton or “Bradgelina”. Victorians were not that different except they tried to solve life’s problems in different ways and with different institutions. In the Victorian world, children were brought up to be seen and not heard, and sometimes, even became the objects of repressed sexual feelings (Lewis Carroll) or explosive anger (child labor abuses as in Dickens.) GOBLIN MARKET, which is currently playing at the GTC Theatre in Burbank, deals with these themes of childhood, sexual awakening, fears of what lies outside one’s sheltered life.

Two sisters, well played by Tami Tappan Damiano and Jennifer Pennington, return to their childhood nursery to recall what happened in their childhood. We see the dollhouse, the baby doll, the rocking horse and the chest filled with wonderful blankets and magic fruit which opens to reveal  makeup or glitter,. We hear poetry(the original poem  by Christina Rossetti, which was the source material for the musical)  and song ( a lovely score by Polly Pen. But outside, in the obligatory Victorian garden, live goblins that exit to tempt young girls to throw caution to the wind, and indulge in the “fruits” they sell. The results are both thrilling and terrifying. GOBLIN MARKET is an exotic mixture of poetry, story, and music that leads us to see into the public and private lives of the two sisters. The audience is taken along on this magical ride with all its ups and downs and made to look at their own lives and sexual awakenings without the rose colored glasses. The piece effectively evokes the era with grace and charm. The sets( Jason Cohen)  and lighting( Dave Mickey) are excellent, going from interior nursery to wooded glen. Ms. Tappan and Ms. Pennington are well served by the director and artistic directory of the Syzygy Theatre Group, Martin Bedoian.  Phillip White nicely directs the musical accompaniment (two violins, a cello, and a piano).

SYZYGY THEATRE GROUR  at GROVE THEATRE CENTER 111-B West Olive Ave. ( center of George Izay Park)  Burbank  323 254 9328 until Oct 20