The trouble with adapting most children’s books is that they are very light on plot. Niagara’s Carousel Players’ two-person production of Where the Wild Things Are (originally adapted for the stage by TAG Theatre in Glasgow) suffers from this problem- it’s only 65 minutes long and still feels like they’re filling for time. What felt like 20 minutes is spent winding and unwinding a large vine through the crowd of floor-sitting children and their reluctant accompanying “big people”, most of whom are seated on chairs along the perimeter of Young People’s Theatre’s black box studio space. A shorter runtime or some kind of expansion of the story feels necessary to keep the momentum going in this imagination-demanding production.

I appreciate the dedication to interactive elements- it brings the minimum age down and allows kids a place to learn how to be audience members without having to quote unquote “behave themselves”. Though it should be noted that a few of the kids still went off script (read: onstage without an invitation) and it did seem to throw the performers more than I’d expect it to. Unfortunately, each interactive element takes a fairly long time to execute, which really hinders the pace of the show. Passing things out, assigning tasks, and resetting back to order (or an approximation of it) dampens whatever excitement comes from the kids getting involved.

The production’s most memorable moments come from the box that produces props despite appearing to be empty, a practical stage effect that feels like magic and I would have loved to see more of (the “endless” effect of the vine is also a missed opportunity for wonder where the work is there but the focus is for some reason elsewhere at the key moment). The barebones production uses the crowd smartly as the chorus of “wild things”, which sidesteps the need for elaborate costumes or puppets, but not quite enough is made of the book’s embrace of wildness, especially with the audience involvement that brings that theme home to each of the kids who is there, perhaps struggling to sit still and stay quiet. The wild rumpus is great fun but could stand to be even wilder and how quickly the performers need to get the room back under full control feels a little stressful.

The concept behind this simple production of a great story is a strong one and I love a kids show that summons the magic with practical effects and human imagination more than bells and whistles but the task then becomes executing that simplicity with sharp precision and big ideas. This show is nice but it doesn’t pack enough punch.