‘Walk Two Moons’ done justice in new play

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Tanya Chu McBride stars as Sal in Adventure Stage Chicago's world premiere of "Walk Two Moons." | Photos courtesy Johnny Knight

Updated: December 5, 2011 8:08AM

Life is a series of journeys, and teacher-turned-author Sharon Creech is a master of putting into words the journey from childhood to maturity. Her compelling novels for young adults are a staple in curriculums across the country. Top among them is her Newbery Medal-winning Walk Two Moons (1995). Adventure Stage Chicago (ASC) presents its world premiere — its first in-house adaptation — of the novel Nov. 5-Dec. 8 at the Vittum Theater.

“Walk Two Moons” takes the audience on a crazy cross-country journey with 13-year-old Sal and her grandparents to confront her mother, who left Sal and her father more than a year earlier. Coincidentally, Sal’s best friend, Phoebe, finds herself in the same situation when her mother disappears. With their vivid imaginations, the girls see murderous plots and schemes everywhere. Sal shares Phoebe’s story with Gram and Gramps, and it is through telling Phoebe’s story that Sal begins to understand her own.

Although “Walk Two Moons” tackles weighty issues, Creech leavens the seriousness with quirky characters and plenty of humor, something that ASC adaptor Tom Arvetis hopes he emulated.

“What Sharon does so well, and what I hope I also accomplished, was using humor as a counterpoint to what are really difficult themes and events. And through the humor we come to see the characters as vulnerable and human,” said Arvetis, ASC founder and producing artistic director. “I really hope that the audience finds it funny.”

Creech, who will be in town for the opening weekend, believes he succeeded. Arvetis asked her to read his first draft and she did.

“What I liked especially is [Tom] kept a lot of the humor, because I was always worried that in an adaptation that someone, in reducing for the stage, would just keep the serious bits, but the book needs the humor to balance the [serious] bits; otherwise, it becomes really melancholy,” she said, adding she’d like the adaptation to come “across as primarily a story of hope . . . a good, entertaining production for young people.”

“Walk Two Moons” is a project Arvetis has had on the backburner since 2005 when he discovered the novel at a bookstore.

“I was looking at Newbery Medal-winning books” to adapt, he said. “I picked this one off the shelf, didn’t really know anything about it, read the back cover and went home with it and devoured it and just was bowled over by the story.”

He couldn’t find an adaptation of the book, so he started “kicking around the idea [of adapting it for ASC] but it ultimately sat dormant for several years while other things took precedence.” Arvetis and ACS turned up the gas on the adaptation after doing a public reading of it in February. He believes it fits the ASC mission to produce plays about young people.

“It has a young female protagonist; she’s 13 years old. That’s really our first criteria,” he explained. “We want to make sure that every story we tell is told from the young person’s point of view, so that our audience doesn’t feel as though we’re talking down to them or we have some lesson to tell them, but it’s actually something that they can feel and see as their own experience.”

Even with the right protagonist, Creech’s multilayered story proved challenging for the adaptor — the narratives of several characters are filtered through Sal, making it challenging for a reader and even more challenging on the stage.

“That’s a really hard thing to track as an audience member,” Arvetis said. “Where am I in time? Am I with Sal in the present as she’s talking about something that happened in the past? Back in the past and in that moment? Am I on the car trip with Gram and Gramps talking to Gram and Gramps? Or am I in the car with Sal talking directly to the audience . . . all these different frameworks . . . I think that was biggest challenge for me as the playwright.”

Arvetis shared his first draft with Creech back in July, asking for comments.

“I read it and I found myself really unable to comment because he’s taken a very long book with three different time lines and plot lines and somehow translated that into what will be I guess an hour and a half performance. I couldn’t tell what was left out, what was changed. I was just kind of transported. I think he’s done a great job” she said.

Creech will attend the Nov. 5 opening and be on hand to sign books during the post-show ice cream social. She’ll also participate in the post-show Q&A session.

KIDDING AROUND

† Chicago Shakespeare Theater presents CPS Shakespeare! The Taming of the Shrew at 4:30 p.m. Nov. 4 and 10:30 a.m. Nov. 5. The collaboration between Chicago Shakes and Chicago Public Schools showcases 35 CPS students from 10 high schools. Tickets are $5. The theater is on Navy Pier at 800 E. Grand. Call (312) 595-5600 or visit
chicagoshakes.com.

† Northwestern University’s Kids Fare drums up fun for kids 3 to 8 during A Paragon of Percussion at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 5 at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Dr., Evanston. Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for kids. Call (847) 491-5441 or visit pickstaiger.org.

† Autumn’s Magic: A Season of Wonder, Lurie Garden’s free family workshop, uses natural materials to make a take-home miniature landscape from 10 a.m. to noon Nov. 5 in the first-floor Garland Room at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington. Children must be 6 or older and accompanied by an adult. Pre-registration is required at (312) 742-8497. Visit luriegarden.org for more information.

Jennifer Burklow is a local free-lance writer.