Juliet Stouffer
On Sept. 26 at 7 p.m., The Fox and Beggar Theater group visited St. Olaf and performed their original operetta, “Tigre! Tigre!” The show took place on the quad and was open to the public. The visit was made possible by the St. Olaf theater department. St. Olaf was the sixth location of their Minnesota-Wisconsin tour.
Their beautifully hand-painted Isuzu box truck transformed into a double-decker stage, with the musicians and singers on the top, while the performers danced on the bottom. Most of the characters were two-dimensional and painted onto cardboard that moved like puppets. All of the music and voices came from the top and the cast on stage mouthed the singing and dialogue like puppets.
The operetta itself focused on the story of Z, a 3-D woman made in a lab by 2-D scientists. She initially enjoys the beauty of being alive, but soon becomes aware that she is the only 3-D character on stage. After this realization, she ventures out into the audience and returns to the stage with a solar system mobile. This prompts the 2-D characters to call for more souvenirs from the 3-D world. After refusing, Z is banished from the 2-D world, where she meets another 3-D person like herself.
The performance drew in a very large crowd. There was a comedy show beforehand, as well as lots of opportunities for audience participation. It was clear that the audience members, especially those who were students in the theater department, were enthusiastic about the performance.
Fox and Beggar Theater performed “Tigre! Tigre!” at several locations in Wisconsin: Oct. 2 in Viroqua, Oct. 3 in La Crosse, Oct. 4 in Hayward, and Oct. 5 in Bayfield. For information, visit foxandbeggar.org.