First came the old English folk tale of a gingerbread-man cookie that came to life, hopping out of an oven and being chased by everyone who smelled his delicious aroma.

Local author Sandi Takayama gave the tale a Hawaiian twist in her book "Musubi Man." A mynah and mongoose join the string of traditional animals hoping to take a bite, and the fox is replaced by a surfer, who offers to paddle Musubi Man away from his pursuers — if Musubi Man rides in his mouth.

Local playwright and Advertiser columnist Lee Cataluna adapted Takayama's version for the stage, where it was produced by HTY and Bulldog played half the characters.

Now, Bulldog recreates the show, directing HTY company actors Janice Terukina and Hermen Tesoro Jr. — who play all the parts, starting with the little old woman and the little old man, who assemble the musubi man hand puppet before our very eyes.

The story and its audience thrive on repetition and the "no can catch me" refrain is happily repeated each time a new hungry animal appears. The ingenious staging has its live actors taking new roles, but turning the old ones over to brightly painted cut-out stand-ins. Eventually the stage fills up with cut-outs.