THEATER REVIEW : Telling Tales With Telling Messages : Adults, Children Seem to Like What They Hear in Newport Troupe’s Staging of Classic Stories

An adult and a child are playing with blocks. The youngster stacks his into a tower, pauses and then topples it. The adult, meanwhile (having surveyed the pertinent special-interest groups and conducted a thorough environmental-impact study), completes phase one of his building block megalopolis and eyes the hallway for additional acreage.

Same materials, different results, same satisfied grins.

So it goes with Newport Theatre Arts Center staging of Paul Sills’ “Story Theatre.”

Although billed by NTAC as children’s fare, this theatrical collection of classic fables and stories is a versatile plaything that can be enjoyed as much, maybe even more, by adults as by kids. Directed by Larry Blake, the show continues through Aug. 8 in Newport Beach.

“Story Theatre,” which ran on Broadway in 1970, features tales of differing lengths and intensities from several sources.

Aesop puts in a showing, as do the Brothers Grimm. At NTAC, all are played out against a single set with a minimum of costume changes and very few props. The stories do the talking, and although the amateur cast doesn’t always give them full voice, at last Sunday’s matinee both adults and children seemed to like what they heard.

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Naturally, each fable carries a message. Some are as simple as “Two Crows” and “Henny Penny” (be wary of free advice) or “Venus and the Cat” (don’t mess with Mother Nature); others, notably “The Robber Bridegroom,” are darker and more complex.

Presented by a local cast of five adults and three children, all of whom handle multiple roles, it is a mostly balanced blend that provides easy lessons along with the laughs for kids, and frequently gives adults some satisfying food for thought.

Although Blake recommends it for kindergartners and up, young children who frighten easily may be rattled by the murderous doings of “The Robber Bridegroom” and gruesome references in “The Master Thief,” as well as storm effects in the final storm of “The Golden Goose.”

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Although they are mostly faithful re-tellings, Blake has added a few of his own touches to the stories, throwing in a few topical asides (Sheepherder in “The Little Peasant” to Bill, the calf: “Get a haircut”) and lacing them with incidental music that ranges from sitcom-themes to country-rock.

The musical additions were probably lost on the kids, but adults in the house cracked up to the whistled theme from “The Andy Griffith Show” in “The Fisherman and His Wife” and the simpleton’s gambling walk to “Achy Breaky Heart” in “The Golden Goose.”

The comic bits are plentiful, although occasionally they stray into dicey territory for parents of young children.

In “The Bremen Town Musicians,” a running gag about the aging hound (Ian Downs) and his bladder control problems is overused and a little crass, and the screamingly foppish priest (also Downs) in “Is He Fat?” is anything but P.C.

If the half-dozen senior citizens who left at intermission are an indication, these rub a few adults the wrong way, too.

Downs and Lisa Antablian are the most polished of the cast. Physically, Downs is a stocky, younger remake of musical-theater star Robert Morse: ageless (he’s 30, but could pass for 18), playful and quick on his feet.

It’s almost worth the ticket price just to see him lead his multiplying parade of fools in “Goose’s goofy do-si-do.”

Antablian’s roles are wide ranging, from her prim but savvy bride in “Bridegroom” to her gum-popping, Bette Midler-esque flounder in “Fisherman.”

Like the stories they support, the costumes and set by Larry Watts leave plenty to individual interpretation. With the exception of the Wild West duds in “Fisherman,” costumes run to the once-upon-a-time style of peasant shirts and billowy skirts; the set consists largely of a backdrop and floor painted in wispy, impressionistic patterns, which served as good foils for the occasionally splashy lighting of Larry Davis.

*”Story Theatre,” Newport Theatre Arts Center, 2501 Cliff Drive, Newport Beach. Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Through Aug. 8. $6 to $13. (714) 631-0288. Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes. A Newport Theatre Arts Center production, written by Paul Sills. Directed by Larry Blake. Produced by Jeanne Nininger. With Lisa Antablian, Rory Castanon, Ian Downs, Alana Nicole Frome, Greg Frome, Dean Norman Ruoff, Katrina Tangen and Tamra Wood. Sets and costumes: Larry Watts. Lights: Larry Davis. Sound: Zak Straman.