Desert island delight

“Robinson Learns to Dance,” a gentle, absurdist fable inspired by the Daniel Defoe classic, “Robinson Crusoe,” marks International City Theatre’s fourth annual season of free children’s theater. It got underway Saturday at ICT’s home base at the Center Theatre in Long Beach and will tour Long Beach parks through July and August.

Refreshingly off the well-worn kiddie theater/fairy tale path, the hourlong show, despite rough spots and unpolished design elements, is big on warmth and the kind of silliness and mild slapstick that giggling preschoolers and younger elementary school-age patrons find endearing.

Written by Hansjorg Schneider and translated from German by Ken Rugg, who directs the production, and Ursula Young, the show begins with keyboard instrumentals by music director Brenda Palmer and a nice sax solo of “Beyond the Sea,” played by 15-year-old Jonathan Palmer, followed by an awkward welcome to the audience from the Huligali Bird (Hannah Goss).

Then, parrot and monkey sounds awaken cranky marooned soldier Robinson (Joseph Horn), who’s been sleeping in his straw hut. He then sets about his sternly regimented daily routine: patrolling the island at a stiff march, clad in a patched, 18th century-ish military uniform, setting his breakfast of fruit out just so, and talking to his companion -- a burlap dummy named Robby.

It’s soon clear that this daily regimen is the only way Robinson has been able to bear his many years of isolation. The playful jungle fauna stay out of rifle range and won’t follow Robinson’s rigid rules. They are unseen but for the Huligali Bird and a parrot puppet on a rod -- too small and limited further by muffled vocals from behind-the-scenes actor Dominic Pham.

When good-natured Friday (the physically adept Khai Van Tran) arrives, Robinson attempts to remake him in his own image; the transformation, of course, ends up the other way around. Friday comically misunderstands the officious instructions, and turns the tables by encouraging Robinson to find his own long-quenched playful spirit.

The fun earns laughs, and Palmer’s apt pop themes accent the action, but fine-tuning would take it to the next level: Besides the need for more imaginative parrot puppetry and a makeover for Goss’ ho-hum bird costume, Rugg should ask more nuanced performances of the competent cast to better fit the play’s lightly absurdist quality.

‘Robinson Learns to Dance’

Where: Long Beach area parks

When: Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.; ends Aug. 20

Cost: Free

Info: (562) 436-4610;

www.ictlongbeach.com