Theatre review: The Hobbit is an inventive love letter to the joy of pretending
At Pacific Theatre, Peter Carlone and Tim Carlson bring to life characters from Gollum to 13 dwarves in playfully nostalgic adaptation
The Hobbit’s Tim Carlson and Peter Carlone. Photo by Chelsey Stuyt
The Hobbit is at Pacific Theatre to December 21
AS PEOPLE SETTLED INTO their seats at Pacific Theatre, a pair of audience members near me joked that the floral-patterned couch on stage looked just like the one their grandparents had. It’s fitting: somewhere between a homey ’70s living room and Middle-earth lies the charm of Kim Selody’s lighthearted, nostalgic adaptation of The Hobbit, presented at the snug venue.
Director Laura McLean shares in the program how J.R.R. Tolkien’s seminal fantasy work first came to her as a child, with her dad reading it aloud. That sense of discovery and play radiates throughout the production. This staging feels like a love letter to storytelling and the joy of pretending—small in scale but inventive, it taps into part of the wonder that makes The Hobbit a cultural touchstone for so many readers and watchers of all ages.
The premise is simple: a pair of friends, Peter (Peter Carlone) and Tim (Tim Carlson), re-enact The Hobbit as part of their weekly role-playing campaign. Peter brings runes, costumes, and plenty of mischief, while Tim reluctantly takes on the role of the reluctant but courageous and resourceful Bilbo Baggins. “You be Bilbo,” Peter insists, claiming the role of Thorin Oakenshield, leader of the Company of Dwarves, for himself and kicking off a chain of events that transforms the living room into the stage for treasure hunting, dragon slaying, and other death-defying adventures. Armed with just household items, toys and board games, some Christmas decorations, and sheer creativity, the actors bravely take on Tolkien’s sprawling plot.
Songs, a core element of Tolkien’s original text, are sometimes sung a cappella, other times remixed into unexpected genres, like a disco rendition of “The Road Goes Ever On” or a dubstep-infused Goblin song. The meta-commentary between Peter and Tim is just as playful—Peter, as Thorin, blurts, “There’s so much exposition!” when the quest to find treasure detours into visiting an Elven kingdom. Tim responds, “It’s necessary, for the lore and the world-building.” The duo’s friendship comes through in these little asides as the story presses forward.
The Hobbit. Photo by Chelsey Stuyt
Surprisingly, the production covers all the major beats of the book in just two hours. That feat might seem impossible with one of Tolkien’s other, denser works, but The Hobbit has a folklore-like simplicity that the show smartly leans into.
The show’s brisk pacing owes much to its talented actors, who juggle and switch between beloved characters—from a creepy-as-ever but still sympathetic Gollum to a regal and pompous Elrond. The famously overwhelming arrival of 13 dwarves to Bilbo’s house, handled with a cast of two, sounds chaotic and clunky on paper, and it is in practice as well, but it’s part of the show’s charm. The childlike energy (“Thorin is the bravest, so he goes first!” Peter yells, yanking Tim off a bookshelf they’ve turned into the Lonely Mountain) contrasts beautifully with moments of real tension, like Gollum’s riddles or Bilbo’s first encounter with the dragon Smaug.
The magic is conjured and helped along by perfectly timed lighting, fog, projections, and quick costume changes, thanks to the skilled design team: set designer Alaia Hamer, lighting designer Jono Kim with assistant Christian Ching, costume designer Stephanie Kong, and sound designer MJ Coomber. The sound design, in particular, immerses the audience, with thunderous voices for Gandalf and Smaug while evoking sweeping Middle-earth landscapes without ever overwhelming the scope of the show. The props (by Steph Elgersma) are equally purposeful: a Christmas tree stands in for the dark forests of Mirkwood, and baseball cards double as Fíli and Kíli, the brave dwarf brothers always chosen to stand watch.
For superfans of The Hobbit, this isn’t the most traditional adaptation—it’s far too playful for that. But where Peter Jackson’s cinematic adaptations were all about epic spectacle, this version leans into capturing the joy of storytelling, imagination, and shared adventures. As Bilbo himself comes to understand, the coziness of the journey is just as important as the thrills. 
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