Michael Sommers continues his exploration of Germanic folklore with "The Juniper Tree," currently on display at Open Eye Figure Theatre in Minneapolis.

Sommers dresses these dark cautionary tales with bright colors and childlike charm. Last February's "Strumply Peter" was a good example of creating characters who looked as if they'd jumped from an illustrated page to the stage. Similarly, "Juniper Tree" has a complete storybook look, from the Old World set façade to the costumes (Sarah Bahr) to the puppets who mix with real humans to fashion a fantasy world.

"The Juniper Tree" is an odd little tale and Sommers' telling is modest and straightforward for the most part. A couple long to have a child. They do, a boy, but the mother dies soon after and is buried — as was her request — beneath the juniper tree. The father remarries a harridan and this union produces a girl.

You could look all this up, but I won't spoil the grisly details of how this ends up. It is only important to know that Open Eye never lets the narrative get too frightful.

Julian McFaul, an Open Eye veteran, plays the father with a perfect feel for the sensibility of children's theater. His expressions are big — his white-painted face and head are malleable mugs he uses well.

Tara Loeper plays the human version of the boy (he's also depicted in puppet form) as well as a magical bird who flies from the juniper tree after the boy is slain by the stepmother. Sorry, couldn't help but reveal that.

Loeper's singing voice brings a brilliant new dimension to Open Eye's work. She fills a song with a texture that keeps us very convincingly in the world of myth.

Speaking of song, composer Michael Koerner leads a small ensemble (notably Mitchell Stahlman on flute) through music of Koerner's that becomes as much a part of the design as Sommers' visual creations.

Robert Rosen, late of Theatre de la Jeune Lune, has joined in the fun at Open Eye. He plays the stepmother — Madame Traum — and we had great hopes for what this collaboration might hold. But Rosen is in another play entirely, it seems. The honesty and sweetness of the production were carrying me along and then came this character who breaks the fourth wall, does a few lazzi (gags, bits) with the audience and stops the momentum.

I understand the desire to use an actor so skilled in commedia to build a larger-than-life persona. This has nothing to do with Rosen's abilities — he always has been worth watching. But the departure was unexpectedly jarring and distracting from the moment.

And so, the exploration goes on.

groyce@startribune.com • 612-673-7299