Theater review part deux: Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type

by Gina Robertson of John Garcia's The Column

You say you want a revolution? What else is a cow to do when the farmer refuses to provide comfortable accommodations for the animals that work on his farm? In Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type, a Dallas Children's Theater production, Farmer Brown learns that compromise is the only way to restore peace to his mutinous farm animals and get the milk flowing again.

The Story

Nicely adapted by Grote and Howe from a children's book, the play captures the delightful story of typing cows and brings it to life in song and dance. Farmer Brown is content, Duck is lonely and bored, and the working-class animals in the barn are cold at night and none too happy about it. They decide to talk to the farmer and ask for electric blankets, but the language barrier stands in the way until they find an old typewriter and begin "click clack mooing" their requests in words on paper so that Farmer Brown can understand. He refuses to give them blankets so their only choice is to go on strike, shutting down milk and egg production and befriending Duck along the way.

The Set

Creative and simple, the set consists of a house, a barn, and a weird surfboard-shaped projection thing at the back of the stage that will represent Duck's pond during his solo musical number. The stark contrast between the farmer's cheery domicile--a quaint, tidy little country farmhouse that sits high above the barnyard--and the grim institutional accommodations afforded to the workers on the farm gives symbolic representation of the Animal Farm theme running through the story. This direct symbolism goes over the heads of younger viewers, but even they can tell with a glance at the set pieces--Farmer Brown (the privileged elite) is living large from the labors of the farm animals (the oppressed working class), whose living arrangements are quite dismal. That's a clever bit of subliminal storytelling.

The barnyard set is very versatile, and there's even a funny little gag with the hen that makes eggs fly out of her nest when she sneezes. Just a note on the stairs to Farmer Brown's house--they are rather steep and tall, which is visually appealing but very distracting as a practical matter when he's constantly running up and down them and making the whole set shudder and shake. Perhaps director Doug Miller could come up with another place for the farmer to enter and exit the barnyard, leaving the stairs for emphasis in only one or two scenes.

The Costumes

Cute and very animal-like, from the dapper little duck in his white tuxedo and tails to the hen in her fluffy round feathered dress. Cow the Younger is revolutionary chic in her Che Guevara boots and hat, while Cow the Elder has a sweet matronly apron to match her sweet, motherly disposition. The elder cow wears something red on her forehead that isn't recognizable from the audience and distracted me a bit with wondering what it was meant to be.

Song and Dance

Music and choreography are quite simple, for the most part. Suitable for kids, who would likely get bored with more complex dance routines. Hen and Duck really shine, though, in their tap-dance/softshoe number. Even the kids were dazzled and impressed. Duck's solo number seems a bit pointless and out of place. He's already hidden within the costume, so putting him all alone at the back of a dark stage behind a giant surfboard thing only serves to make him completely disconnected from the audience. Brian Hathaway has a lot to give this character but even with his charisma he fades to nothing in this number, which is meant to be his showpiece. Turn on some lights, bring him downstage, and let him perform out in front of the big surfboard instead of behind it. And what is up with the cows growing feathers and flying around with him here? I think even the four-year-olds were perplexed by this choice.

The Acting

Well, you couldn't accuse these folks of being understated or subtle in their performance, but this is children's theater, and they over-acted delightfully well. The high-pitched giggles and guffaws erupting from the seats all over the house showed that the comedic hyperbole was much appreciated by those it was intended for. Even middle-aged me enjoyed a handful of chuckles and one or two laugh-out-loud moments. As one little patron in a seat near mine commented as we exited, "That duck was silly!" He certainly was, and he and the rest of the cast are worth seeing with the kids on a Friday night.