Theatre Project ‘Freedom’ Sings

With roots in Balinese culture, the exotic, otherworldly “Freedom Song” celebrates something uniquely American--the bicentennial of the Bill of Rights.

The Mark Taper Forum’s latest Improvisational Theatre Project for young people is an intriguing tale of freedoms lost and regained, using shadow puppetry, live action, stylized movement, mime and sound and live, onstage music.

In Peter Mattei’s poetic fable, peaceful villagers rejoice in their mountain home so high “you can see clear around the world.” But when a stranger warns of a dragon nearby, the people wall their village in and make the stranger their mayor and protector.

Soon the “protector” becomes the oppressor. Even imagination is banned. “Imagine,” says the mayor (Rick Perkins), “if you imagined there was no dragon!” But itinerant artist Pimo (Ivan G’Vera) inspires little Imogene (Karen Maruyama) to fight for her rights.

The show’s target audience may be young, but director Peter Brosius isn’t serving up pabulum. Shadow-effects designer Larry Reed fills a large screen with grim silhouettes of taloned, fanged dragons and an epic battle. Music by Udan Arum (Maria Bodmann and Cliff De Arment) plays a major mood-setting role with keyboards, pipes and clashing gongs.

The simplicity of Victoria Petrovich’s bamboo set is complemented by Tom Dennison’s alternately soft and stark lighting. Lydia Tanji’s costumes accent innocence, joy and evil.

The all-adult cast is solidly professional and a pleasure to watch, but G’Vera is magical. He’s a rubber-limbed clown, speaking in riotous snorts and whistles, but he brings subtle pathos to the role.

There are quibbles. When the artist enters the village, wouldn’t someone ask him how he got past the wall--and the dragon? And the term “slime-bag” may be common on playgrounds, but the mayor’s brief use of contemporary slang is a distracting, cheap laugh that ill-serves the aesthetic of the piece.

“Freedom Song,” Cal State L.A.’s State Playhouse, today, 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., $4-$8. (213) 343-4118; UCLA’s Wadsworth Theater, Veterans Administration Grounds, West Los Angeles, next Saturday, 2 p.m., $6-$16. (213) 825-9261. Running time: 50 minutes.