Theater review: Sinbad: The Untold Tale

Maybe your kid is addicted to Disney's Alladin. Maybe—I admit, like my younger nerd self did when I was in elementary school—they got ahold of old, abridged copies of One Thousand And One Arabian Nights. Maybe they want to be just like Jake Gyllenhaal's save-the-world swashbuckler in Prince of Persia. But even if their most current fascination is nowhere near old world Arabia, Adventure Stage has done it again and done it well in Sinbad: The Untold Story, written by Charles Way. Director Amanada Delheimer and cast have brought a culturally relevant, action-packed play with high stakes, high energy and un-dumbed-down humor to their stage. And just as they did in The Ghosts of Treasure Island, they impart that bit of magic, stolen from the tale they've adapted and given authenticity by the actors making that very tale come alive. And that's precisely what steals the scene.

The play begins when the legendary Sinbad the Sailor (Adam El-Sharkawi) emerges from a misty Baghdad, recounting his past adventures, introducing us to his spitfire of a young daughter Ittifaq (Dana Dajani) and explaining his now relaxed, more leisurely-paced existence in the city. But sure enough, with the entrance of the scrappy young Sinbad the Porter (Edgar Miguel Sanchez) and a scarily vain sorceress Jan Shah (Mildred Marie Langford) who's equal parts powerful and bitter, those peaceful days are way over. Soon, Ittifaq and the young Sinbad find themselves dodging evil genies and getting saved by good ones, journeying far from their home to snake-filled caves and through high seas, and trying to save the city of Baghdad from a most perilously sleepy fate. 

Now this could all easily be as corny as the biggest tub of Garrett's you could imagine. But instead, Adventure Stage showcases the story with smart silliness, a simple but transformative set (Sinbad's house and the ocean-bound vessel are one in the same) and characters that play into kids' excitement for the sword fighting, magic spells and flying carpets with sensitivity and genuine zeal, instead of cloyingly handing them the moral of the story and heroic lesson takeaways on a silver platter. In the audience, the jaws of the kids around age 5 were hanging just as low to the floor as the 12-year olds. And as a girl who was always miffed at the boys in stories and shows that got to have all the fencing fun, seeing Ittifaq kick and then save Sinbad's butt just as many times as he does for her is just way too good—and a great lesson to little independant ladies in the audience.

So go—because your kid will get a kick out of the special effects, the sword-fighting action, the slapstick comedy, and the exotic storyline. But all those (significant) aspects aside, go to let your kid escape the ordinary; let them get transported into a quirky, slightly dangerous and completely magical place, if just for a little while. It's a trip worth taking.

Sinbad: The Untold Tale is playing Saturdays at 2pm at Adventure Stage (1012 N Noble St, 773-342-4141) through April 16; see adventurestage.org for tickets and details.