Festival Makes the Imaginary Real

It takes tact to be a troll. Just ask Bob Gibson.

Gibson and a fellow troll, Karen Smith, alternately delighted and scared the bejabbers out of dozens of children Sunday at the 9th Annual Theatre Arts Festival for Youth in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Calling themselves Fubb and Olga, Gibson and Smith wandered throughout the popular festival, held at the Peter Strauss Ranch near Agoura Hills, covered with lumpy “fur” made of dust mops. They also sported noses made of large gourds, mouths and big red tongues protruding from their stomachs, wooden clogs and huge floppy hats.

Some kids loved it. Others reacted as if they were being approached by Freddy Krueger and the Wicked Witch of the West.

“Bye-bye! Bye-bye!” said Gibson, a part-time actor and puppeteer from Hollywood, as he hastily backed away from an infant who burst into tears at the mere sight of him.

“You gotta be real good about figuring out who’s scared and leaving them alone,” he conceded.

Gibson and Smith were among the more colorful characters who cavorted through the imaginary village of Puddledumplin, the heart of the children’s festival. The event, which began Saturday, attracted about 2,300 people over two days, an organizer said.

Festival-goers also were treated to mimes, jugglers, Victorian gentlemen and ladies with animal faces, puppet shows, African-American folk tales and multicultural dances.

They munched on pizza, tacos and barbecued chicken and tried their skill at “Fish Boxing” (trying to toss stuffed-animal fish into revolving boxes) and “Bear Baiting” (trying to toss rings over small stuffed bears).

One popular attraction was “Dunk the Dweeb,” where a young boy in a wet suit sat on a platform taunting a stream of other kids who hurled baseballs at a circular target that, if hit, plunged him into a water tank.

“Missed!” he mocked one thrower who, moments later, scored a direct hit, soaking the taunter.

On a stage, a pony-tailed performer representing the Ben and Jerry’s ice cream firm balanced a flaming torch on his nose while standing atop 10-foot stilts.

“Kids, do NOT try this at home,” the man warned.

“Go over to your friend’s house.”