at the Brooklyn Lyceum, September 9 to 19

There’s an annual fable-telling contest aboard the Starship Fable as the crew competes to see who can tell the best fable in five minutes or less.  The morals are straight from Aesop, but given the crew’s point of reference “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” becomes “The Girl Who Cried Meteor” and “Belling the Cat” becomes “Belling the Alien.”  A cast of seven takes on multiple roles in the 10 fables, while Captain Aesop and First Officer Zyrtec introduce the fable-tellers and provide music and sound effects.  

Iris Rose, the writer and director of MUTTI'S AFTER SUPPER STORIES,  has combined the storylines of classic Aesop's fables with elements from science-fiction classics like Star Wars, Star Trek, Tron, Mars Attacks!,  Alien, Village of the Damned, and V.  The result is a show that's fast, bright and funny enough to retain the attention of kids but with humor, insight and cultural references that will entertain everyone else.  Though the genre is high-tech, the props and costumes are definitely low-tech – constructed of recycled paper, plastic packing materials, duct tape, cardboard and whatever else is at hand.  Still, most of the stories include some sort of grand theatrical effect: a giant, glittery box of Lucky Charms floating in mid-air; fluorescent-trimmed actors performing only in blacklight; dancers demonstrating moves from other planets; an enormous meteor crushing a miniature shopping mall.

CAPTAIN AESOP OF THE STARSHIP FABLE was previously performed at both St. John the Divine and the Paley Center for Media.  The latter was broadcast on WFMU as part of Greasy Kid Stuff’s annual live show.