Review: The Three Snow Bears at Stages Theatre Company

Last night I had the opportunity to attend the final dress rehearsal of The Three Snow Bears at Stages Theatre in Hopkins, MN. I have seen many productions here before, and I have always been impressed at the attention to detail and accuracy as they bring popular children's books to life on stage. Since The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett is one of my 4-year-old's favorite books, we were really looking forward to this production.

Unfortunately, this production was a complete and utter disappointment. The choreography was nice and the acting was fine, but rather than staying true to the book as they have in past productions, there wasn't a shred of the original story to be found. Not. A. Single. Shred. To be fair, the promotional information found on the website does say that the play is "inspired by" the book, not "based on" the book, but still, we were expecting the story to be there. I could see that the costumes were inspired by the illustrations in the book, but that's as far as any relation to the book went.

Those of you who have read Jan Brett's book know that it is a retelling of Goldilocks and The Three Bears. The play, instead, was a story about a girl and her family who were forced to move to another village because humans are damaging the earth rather than living in harmony with it. I kind of felt like this was bait-and-switch advertising. The play is being promoted as a take on a popular children's book, but it is actually a completely different story intended to push a political agenda.

My children (ages 4, 7, and 11) were all confused and disappointed that the story that the play we saw was not the story they know and love. I can't recommend this play. Hopefully future productions will stay true to the books that they are portraying.