Eastern Michigan University stages "The Prince, the Wolf and the Firebird," starting Friday

When you hear that Eastern Michigan University’s theater department is producing a holiday season show based on a Russian children’s story with a wolf, you can’t be blamed for assuming it’s “Peter and the Wolf.” But it’s not.

Instead, the play is “The Prince, the Wolf and the Firebird” (Russians apparently just have a thing about wolves showing up in kids’ stories). Jackson Lacey’s stage adaptation of this folk tale focuses on a king and his three sons.

When the king’s coveted golden apples are being stolen one by one each night, two of his sons set out to kidnap the culprit Firebird to gain power for themselves, while the youngest son finds himself going on a magical quest.

The play first appeared on EMU’s stage in 1975, three years after its world premiere, and the university produced it again in 1990, when the current production’s director, Pam Cardell, was a student.

“I played one of the roles and I just loved it, so I have a real sentimental attachment to it,” said Cardell.

Even so, making the show her own has been a challenge. “From the get-go, I didn’t want to do the same thing, or mimic what we had done in 1990, so I struggled a lot to visualize what this was going to be, “ said Cardell. “I set myself up for a real challenge. … But the designers came in with these great ideas. And I had told them that it was important to me that the show was truly a magical adventure, and fast-paced and fun.”

For inspiration, the production team turned to the illustrations of Ivan Bilibin, who’d illustrated an 1899 print edition of the story. But the thing that sold Cardell on the show when she was a student was its sense of magic.

“As a kid, I loved fairy tales,” Cardell said. “There’s no fairies in this story, so it’s more of a folk tale, … but it’s very much out of the realm of reality. There are talking horses and talking birds and it really ties into the magic of theater itself, and seeing a spectacle on the stage.”

As with many Grimm fairy tales, the original folk tale, “Tsarevitch Ivan, the Fire Bird and the Gray Wolf,” becomes gruesomely dark and violent near its end. But Lacey’s adaptation “tries to stay true to the story while realizing who the audience is going to be,” said Cardell.

Humor and whimsy thus take the place of violence in the stage version of the story, and the student cast will be getting valuable experience, since many post-graduation job opportunities involve children’s theater.

“With the season as a whole, we’re not only offering a little bit of everything for our audience, but just as importantly, we’re making sure students have that experience,” said Cardell. “There’s a very different energy when you know a significant part of the audience is going to be young people.”

Jenn McKee is the entertainment digital journalist for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.

PREVIEW
“The Prince, the Wolf and the Firebird”
Who: Eastern Michigan University’s theatre department.
What: Jackson Lacey’s stage adaptation of a Russian folk tale about a king whose prized golden apples are being stolen, one by one, by a Firebird each night. Two of the king’s sons plot to kidnap the Firebird to claim power for themselves, while the youngest son finds himself on a magical quest.
Where: EMU’s Quirk Theatre, at the intersection of Best Hall and East Circle Dr. in Ypsilanti.
When: Friday-Saturday at 7 p.m., December 4-11; Saturday-Sunday at 3 p.m., December 5-6; and 3 p.m. Saturday, December 12.
How much: $15 ($12 for students, $7 for children age 6-12).
Info: 734-487-2282 or EMU Theatre web site.