Aunt Nancy and the Doggie Tales, Cornservatory. West African Anansi folktales save the day in Edward A. Thompson’s kids’ adventure. Meenah and Shelby are visiting world-traveling Aunt Nancy (a cheery Michelle R. Thompson-Hay) and odd, accident-prone Uncle Herbert (a comically blundering Kelvin Davis) when they discover that their dog, Jamal, is the last of a rare and expensive breed. It seems a mysterious stranger aims to dognap Jamal (played by Heather Meyer with such energetic cuteness and cleverness we can’t blame him). But Aunt Nancy’s fables of a frog and centipede, pig and glutton, and spider and wood ant teach the kids to take things one step at a time, work together, not get greedy, and tell the truth. Grounded by these solid morals, the family members and a cliche-spouting Coach (the hilarious Bryan Kelly) protect Jamal from the bad guy (played rather awkwardly by Roger Hand, though he did appear to scare some children in the crowd).
