The play Rose and the Rime is a tale as old as time, starting with a protagonist who goes on a dangerous journey to restore peace to their home. The main character succeeds and lives happily ever after. But the play Rose and the Rime explores the aftermath and what would happen if the happy townspeople turned on the main character. And If the antagonist was always evil or their circumstances were what corrupted their morality.
This past Thursday, Friday, and Saturday Niles West Theater performed the play Rose and the Rime. Starring freshman Jamie Saxon-Joseph as lead character Rose, and junior Chris Moscardon as the Rime witch.
The first act is centered on a small town called Radio Falls in the American midwest. The protagonist, Rose, lives with her uncle Roger, played by junior Camila Smith, after the mysterious passing of her parents. The town was plunged into an everlasting winter after the witch, Rime, stole a coin that allowed the town to stay in summer all year round. After relentless pestering from Rose, Roger tells her about the origin of the town’s misfortunes, and during the night, Rose sets off to find the Rime and retrieve the coin. Rose makes it to the cave and somehow wrestles the coin from the witch. When Rose returns home, she restores happiness and good weather to Radio Falls.
The second act is set years after the first events and opens with two tourist brothers Jimmy and Charlie played by freshmen Natalie Logan and Izzy Gorecki. Both brothers are in love with Rose, but she eventually marries Jimmy and she gives birth to their child. Charlie resents the happy couple and convinces the townspeople that the coin is the source of all their happiness. The townspeople and Charlie attack Rose, Jimmy and Roger leading to Jimmy and Roger’s death. Due to her resentment and rage, Rose becomes the new Rime witch.
Before he’s going to die Roger says that this has all happened before proving that the creation and destruction of the Rime is a never ending cycle. That two brothers will always fall in love with the same girl and that girl will fall in love with one of the brothers, leaving the other one resentful. The rejected brother will then try to destroy the girl’s family leading to the death of his brother and the girl he once fell in love to become the Rime. The child is left to the uncle, which leads back to uncle Roger’s role in Rose’s life and Charlie’s new parental responsibilities to Rose’s baby.
One of the reasons the play was so exciting was because of the actors and audience member Olivia Kozi-O’Donnell agreed.
“I really like how enthusiastic the characters seem and how into the roles the cast members are. They really brought out the best and worst of the characters”, Kozi-O’Donnell said.
The cast was amazing at portraying the characters, specifically Saxon-Joseph, Smith and Logan. Saxon-Joseph was able to show the childish side of Rose in the first act and the more maternal side of the character in act two. But most of all Saxon-Joseph did an incredible job of showing Rose’s rage and transformation from a kind-hearted mother, wife, niece and friend into a complex monster.
Smith did a great job with her role as the mature and rational adult in Radio Falls. Smith did especially well with the foreshadowing of what was going to happen from her wary comments about Charlie being jealous of his brother’s life, to the way she told the story of Rose’s parents vaguely as to not reveal the plot twist that the Rime was Rose’s mother. Smith and Saxon-Joseph shined when they were on stage together and the audience found it adorable when Saxon-Joseph annoyed Smith about where babies come from. Roger’s character is partially interesting because he seems to have more knowledge about the world and the actions that led to life-changing events. Roger’s character left me reeling and made me appreciate Smith’s role even more. It also seems that the audience isn’t the only one to learn more about Roger.
“I felt incredibly honored to be playing Roger. During the first few days of our rehearsal process, I had trouble connecting with his character because of the preconceived notions I had planted in my head when reading the script. The way I saw it, he was a cranky old uncle whose only care in the world was Rose. But I soon realized that he was so much more than that. Roger’s heart belongs not just to Rose, but to the entirety of Radio Falls. He is just this amazing, kind-hearted, quirky radio-loving guy and it has been such a joy to explore his character. To every townsperson, he is a friend, a brother, a father, and so much more,” Smith said.
Logan’s character Jimmy was meant to be an awkward loudmouth, and he played the part perfectly. From the musical number to his obsession with hotdogs, Jimmy was the lovable character he needed to be.
The only critique I have is the time skips were a bit confusing and I wish we had more of those in-between years. I was also a bit disappointed that the fight between the Rime and Rose was completely skimmed over and I wish there was more of the original Rime in it.
The set design and the lighting also helped create a beautiful fantasy world. I was very impressed by the way winter was rapidly changed to summer. And how adaptable the set was from house, to cave, to town. The thought behind the sets also made the whole play more rich and enticing. For example, the scenic designer left up the isles and snowflakes to represent how the winter would be coming back and that the story would take a dark turn.
And according to scenic designer and senior Sophie Cordis, the process was long and hard, but well worth it.
“I tried to go for a wintery because the show revolved around the everlasting winter. I tried to have some removable pieces because of the big melting scene. Some of the most difficult parts were coordinating when to shift things from winter to summer. But it paid off in the end when we had our set made,” Cordis said.
Altogether I loved the play and think that the theater team did a great job! The play was fun and upbeat at times with its musical numbers and hotdog escapades but also somber and heartfelt at other times. I would give this play a 4.5 out of 5.
