New Colony presents SMALL WORLD Review: Broken Disney Dreams

The lights come down at the top of the play, and the usual recorded announcements begin. Turn off your phones, unwrap candy wrappers now, and note the emergency exits on either side of the theater. As we enter the emergency talk of the evening, the recording continues:

“Should something catastrophic occur…”

And then the recording cuts out. We hear static and banging, and the structure before us starts to shake.

The set itself has been covered by a large white sheet hanging from above, and suddenly the sheet whisks off stage left. “Should something catastrophic occur” indeed, because Disney has clearly had an emergency, and the remains of the “It’s a Small World” ride before us by no means came off unscathed.

The New Colony presents Small World

Written by Jillian Leff and Joe Lino, this new play takes place immediately following an attack on Disney World.

Is it the end of the world? Will the Happiest Place on Earth survive?

The three employees stuck inside the Small World attraction certainly do not have answers, but they do know that the situation looks pretty dire for them. The music is stuck on repeat. An old coworker by the name of Ted is dead and floating in the moat, and Kim (Stephanie Shum) is slowly losing her peppy, optimistic outlook with her leg impaled by what was once a smiling animatronic.

The contrasts between the three characters only adds to the comedy. Towards the beginning, when the trio is trying to figure out a way to send a note for help, Donny comes across the dead corpse of Ted (a large, floppy dummy) floating in the moat. Donny and Becca struggle to lift the Dummy onto the platform – despite Becca’s difficulty keeping her stomach calm enough to finish the task. Kim is out of commission as a pole is still impaled through her leg, but she certainly adds to the commotion through constant screams and cries over this coworker who she felt so strongly added to the happiness of Disney. The stage picture of watching this absurd struggle unfold is hysterical, and the three actors so quickly bounce off each other with wit that you too might find yourself leaning in to ensure that you catch every moment.

We enjoy a constant wave throughout the play of laughter that at times morphs into groans at the horror. The dialogue is fast-paced and witty. In this writer’s view the Director and cast have the timing down to perfectly highlight the comedy of each situation.

Moments of Sincerity

As time wears on for these three characters trapped together, truths rise to the surface. Kim spends much of the play in constant physical pain, and in one such moment, she asks Becca to tell her a story. After much push back, Becca finally agrees to the task, and tells the tale of Princess Sara – a sweet princess in a castle who has the power to cure sadness. For the first time, we see hints of genuineness poke through her dead pan humor, offering a small window into Becca’s difficult past-- details withheld here to avoid a spoiler. Seijo’s performance goes even further than the script to ensure we connect with the character in a new way.

A brilliant ensemble and artistic team combine over-the-top hilarity, painful truth, and bloody horror into one jam-packed 85-minute theatrical event, making Small World an experience to remember. This writer certainly had no problem joining the uproar of cheers and applause at the end of the performance.