Candy Land
It is business as usual at the Mega-Bite Candy Company. Pop Tart is stirring the chocolate, Stretch is headed for the Taffy Room, Cookie the Clown is preparing to host a tour of young school children, Jan and Dean are experimenting with new flavors of candy, and--most significantly--Graham Cracker is looking for Kandy Kane. As Graham searches for Miss Kane and attempts to propose, Grimsley Krumkake, a dastardly villain posing as a vat inspector, enters with his dopey sidekick, Bink. Thus is set in motion a fiendish plan to take over the world, beginning with the Mega-Bite Candy Company. In the end, true love wins, the villain receives his just desserts, and the world is saved! About 45 minutes.
Productions
Behind The Scenes
PLAYWRIGHT KEVIN STONE
TALKS ABOUT "CANDY LAND"
Q.: WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE THIS PLAY?
A.: My standard answer is, "Our performance was on the schedule, and I needed a SCRIPT!" Deadlines are always great motivators for me. For Candy Land, the inspiration came from my own love of sweets, old episodes of "Dudley Do-Right," and the Smothers Brothers' routine, "I Fell in a Vat of Chocolate." A friend and I performed that routine back in college, and I guess it just stuck with me.
Q.: WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE PART OR LINE? WHY?
A.: I think my favorite part is in Scene 2 when Kandy and Graham are tied up. After Kandy compliments Graham on his sprinkles, the villain threatens to take control of Graham's mind. Graham asks, "Why would you want my mind?" and Kandy has a surprisingly insightful response: "I think it's because he lost his." I like this part because it underscores two things: the sweetness of the relationship between the principals and Kandy's basic good sense, despite her utter cluelessness. Although our heroes are in dire straits, we know that, in the end, ignorant sweetness is better than evil genius.
Q.: WHAT DID YOU TRY TO ACHIEVE WITH THIS PLAY?
A.: Basically, I wanted to bring the elements of traditional melodrama into a different context and see how they played out. I wanted to tell a story with just the right mixture of wackiness and sentiment-a screwball comedy with heart. On the technical side, I had a goal of using a fairly large cast of colorful characters and only one set.
Q.: ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO SAY?
A.: I hope everyone who directs Candy Land will have as much fun as I did in the production. May the curtain close each night on a jubilant cast, a happily satisfied audience, and fond memories of a sterling presentation.