Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

I was quite young when I first met Bilbo Baggins, peaceful resident of Middle Earth and protagonist of ‘The Hobbit’ by J.R.R Tolkien.. My Dad was a aficionado of science fiction and fantasy so it was inevitable he would steer me that way, too.

The novel dates to 1937 while the animated television musical (??) was unleashed on network TV in 1977. Being the ripe age of seven myself, I enjoyed the Rankin & Bass elements of an adventure story. My father was mortified, but consoled himself with my enthusiastic response. So he bought the LP for me. And then encouraged me to read the book.

Yes, I was an eight year old reading Tolkien in paperback. Then I tackled the Lord of the Rings trilogy for the first time.

I was curious how a theater company could produce such a sprawling epic when I saw that it was heading to the Public Theater. So I invited my faithful cultural companion, Sarah, and 13-year-old nephew, E, along with me. Both love musicals and not so much plays. The puppets convinced them to try this version.

The puppets are great – big glorious trolls and goblins, even creepy pathetic Gollum. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The play layers a Dungeons and Dragons like scenario to Bilbo’s big adventure, dividing the stage between his comfortable, cozy living room and a big sprawling gaming table. Seven actors bring to life a huge array of characters, including wizard Gandalf, 13 dwarves, wood elves, humans, and Gollum. The darting back and forth worked thanks to a creative set (Jennifer Zeyl) and the minimalist costuming of (Melanie Taylor Burgess.)

Like many grand adventures, the play takes a few wrong turns and I cannot quite put my finger on how. The casting is representative, upsetting the strict gender hierarchy of Tolkien to good effect. The storyline is relatively faithful to the novel, perhaps leaning too much on audience familiarity with the parts that had to be condensed or skipped. E was familiar with the novel and followed. His Mum hadn’t had much contact with it in decades.

I found myself awash is a sea of nostalgia for the novel and for my own interactions with Middle Earth. The eagles! The barrels! The dagger! I had to suppress the urge to surreptitiously use my phone to quickly dive into the OG source.

It is an ambitious play. Fans will likely find reasons to nitpick and those unfamiliar may have no idea what is happening. I’m fairly certain J.R.R. Tolkien would roll over in his grave about Dungeons & Dragons. He was after all a super pre-Vatican II Catholic white European moralist. I’m unsure the modernization works, much like adding female characters and a love story did not serve TLOTR movie trilogy.

I can say that I’ve already added ‘The Hobbit’ to my library list because of that seductive cultural outcome – curiosity.

Applause to the actors for pulling it off – acting, singing, puppetry, eagle flying, and switching species at the drop of a hat.

My fervent hope is for my nephew to be curious, especially about culture. He consumes media voraciously, bringing a powerful frame of reference to most situations. I didn’t attend a play until 2003 when I was 32, a great regret of mine. And a shame on my liberal arts college.

The Hobbit is on-stage at the O’Reilly Theater through Sun, Nov 10, 2024

Post-script: Gollum was one of the most terrifying creatures of my childhood. The TV version, the album, the novel. And the creepy puppet version evoked that same mixture of repulsion, pity, and fear. As was intended.