'Gingerbread Man' runs on stage

When many people read fairy tales, they take them at face value and don’t feel the need to go beyond the tale’s basic story.

John Trent, on the other hand, read the fairy tale “The Gingerbread Man” and saw the potential for a play.

“As a kid growing up, I would read the stories and would wonder about the characters and situations the gingerbread man met,” Trent said. “Now that I’m in a position to expand on (those things).”

That expansion is “The Gingerbread Man,” the latest production from the Magic Theater at The Acting Company in Yuba City. The production continues this weekend.

Trent’s adaptation follows the traditional story of an elderly couple (played by Betsy Johnson and John Elliott) creating a gingerbread man (Brandon Graham). The gingerbread man comes to life and the couple wants to eat him, but he won’t allow it, so he runs out of the house, chanting, “Run, run, as fast as you can. You can’t catch me. I’m the gingerbread man.”

While outside, the gingerbread man encounters others wanting to eat him, including a horse (Dana Trent) and a cat (Sydney Johnson).

“The story is of his adventure after he gets outside,” Trent said.

Also in the cast is Taylor Manning as a girl and Thomas Hanns Jr. as a fox.

“The Gingerbread Man” is not the first adaptation of a fairy tale and nursery rhyme into full-length plays by Trent; he previously expanded “Mary Had a Little Lamb” into a full-length play for the Magic Theater.

“It’s just fun to take these stories and see how creative I can be with it,” he said. “I make it a challenge for myself (to expand the stories).”

“The Gingerbread Man”

When: 1 and 3 p.m. Saturdays; runs to Nov. 24

Where: The Acting Company, 815 B St., Yuba City

Tickets: $5. Call 751-1100.b