We cross paths with a happiness machine, a time machine and a tarot witch who sings a sad song for a penny. There s Paralitefoot tennis sneakers that can change a boy into an antelope and a man back into a boy again. Best of all, Grandpa and Doug s amber elixir of memory, time caught and corked in a bottle. Doug, at 12, discovers he s alive, really alive, and the play takes its cue from that boyish epiphany. The play in many ways is a meditation on time, an idea that has always fascinated Bradbury.
Time passes, and there s only memory to catch it again.
Doug s summer starts out auspiciously enough, but ends in a series of disasters that threaten to keep him frozen in the past. The device isn t totally successful, but does give the play a dramatic tension the anecdotal novel lacks. The play s last scenes are quite moving when these two discover the meaning they have for each other. The Colony, who specializes in doing Bradbury plays, have outdone themselves in this production. The best surprise, however, is John Allee s wide-eyed performance as Doug.