Ember Island Players


 * For the episode with the same name, see: The Ember Island Players.

"fire"

- Ugh! My mother used to take us to see them. They butchered 'Love Amongst the Dragons' every year.

The Ember Island Players were a local acting troupe who performed at the Ember Island Theater, which was Ember Island's only theater. They do not have a reputation for quality acting, but they took themselves very seriously and almost always packed the house (though this was probably because the theater was one of the only sources of night time entertainment on the island).

The Ember Island players were all professionals, however their pay was relatively low. Almost all of them wished to advance to a greater stage. Their plays featured very overly-dramatic acting, and dazzling special effects. They recently performed The Boy in the Iceberg, written by Earth Kingdom playwright Pu-on Tim. They also frequently performed (or "butchered", according to Zuko) the play, "Love Amongst the Dragons". When Zuko was young, his mother used to take him to see their plays.

Characters interpreted in "The Boy in the Iceberg"
A list of the characters interpreted by the actors in the play, in order of appearance:

Actress Katara
Actress Katara was an actress who played Katara in the play about Team Avatar. She was a bit overweight and quite unattractive compared to the real Katara. It could be assumed by Aang's look on his face that Actress Katara was somewhat repulsive to him, unlike the real Katara, whom he shared feelings for. Unlike the real Katara, Actress Katara was always crying and was preoccupied with hope. She had a more masculine voice than Katara, and expressed herself greatly towards everyone (especially Aang) about her feelings and was madly in love with Zuko. She also overreacted on almost every mundane thing such as crying and looking for enemies whilst the Invasion scene. Although Team Avatar displayed dislike for her acting skills (primarily Katara), the Fire Nation locals did express much enthusiasm towards her and the play in general.

She was voiced by the real Azula's voice actress, Grey DeLisle.

Actor Sokka
The actor who played Sokka served as the comic character in the play, was much thinner and older than the real Sokka and had buck teeth. He made many jokes about food, particularly meat (something Sokka loved), and his hunger. While the real Sokka seemed to like his performance, he didn't like how the script delegated him to comic relief. Most of his jokes were centered on hunger and meat, a comic exaggeration of Sokka's love of food, particularly meat. With the help of Suki, Sokka snuck back stage, and gave the actor some jokes that he felt were more himself. The actor liked them, and spontaneously used them in the play, to the delight of the audience and to the annoyance of the other actors.

He was voiced by Scott Menville.

Actress Aang
The person who played Aang was a young woman (much to the real Aang's dismay). She was acrobatic, and her catchphrase in the play was "Yip-Yip!" but it was used as a trigger for the Avatar State rather than a command for Appa to fly. She was much more perky and outgoing than the real Aang and she seemingly enjoyed playing pranks on other people. Aang being played by a woman was a reference to a common practice in animated shows to select an older woman to play young boys, as well as a reference to the fact that, in most live plays of Peter Pan, Peter Pan was played by a woman. She appeared to be bald, but her two-toned head indicates that she was most likely wearing a bald cap.

She was voiced by Rachel Dratch.

Actor Zuko
The actor who played Zuko was a fairly accurate representation (though the real Zuko thought he was too "stiff and humorless"), except his scar was on the wrong side and at one point his hair had grown ridiculously long in comparison to the real Zuko. First his hair was shown as tied up, then very long, and finally it was made very spiky. He wore a sort of skull cap covering part of his head to replicate Zuko's scar. His portrayal of Zuko revolved around his search for honor. He took a crash course in kung fu in preparation for his role.

He was voiced by Derek Basco, brother of the real Zuko's voice actor Dante.

Actor Iroh
The actor playing Iroh was used exclusively for comic relief, and he portrayed Iroh as a useless glutton. He had a strange obsession with cake instead of tea. He was violently betrayed by Zuko, who felt that the play's portrayal wasn't very far from the truth. Nick.com used a screencap of actor Iroh for Iroh's main profile picture rather than a screencap of Iroh himself.

He was voiced by John DiMaggio.

Actor Toph
The actor playing Toph was an enormous, muscular man. Unlike the others, Toph actually liked this portrayal of her very much, claiming "I wouldn't have cast it any other way!". Actor Toph 'saw' by releasing a sonic wave from her mouth while the real Toph 'saw' by feeling the vibrations in the Earth. Her actor was a reference to Toph's earliest character design.

He was voiced by John DiMaggio.

Actress Azula
In the play, Azula was portrayed as actually being one of the two "good guys". She appeared to not be very evil or conniving at all. She had a more masculine voice, and was clearly older. Actress Azula wore pink clothing and some of her features were exaggerated like her fingernails and makeup. As Actor Zuko, she took a crash course in kung fu in preparation for her role.

She was voiced by Tara Strong.

Actress Ty Lee
Actress Ty Lee was seen only for a couple moments and was depicted as an overweight ballerina. The only notable differences between her and Ty Lee was on her wider frame, her lack of acrobatics and her fighting methods (she blocked people's chi by kissing them).

Actress Mai
Actress Mai was seen very briefly. Her outfit greatly resembled Mai's, though the actress' had a sad face on it. Unlike Mai, she kept her stilettos in her buns, and her hair covered her eyes. Her hair buns were also much larger and possibly reminiscent of Mickey Mouse ears.

Actress Yue
Actress Yue was seen very briefly. Unlike Princess Yue, this actor had her braids attached to her hair-loopies. Her dress had many bows on it and was a darker rose color. Actress Yue was seen riding on a moon-shaped prop off stage while the real Sokka broke into tears.

Actor Ozai
Actor Ozai apparently had a longer beard and face paintings on that distorted his face. He wore a crown that looked similar to the one the real Ozai wore in, when he pronounced himself as the Phoenix King.

He is voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.

Actress Suki
Actress Suki was only seen once without any lines. She was portrayed the most accurately in the play although some of her features, like her headdress, were exaggerated. Actor Sokka was shown asking her if his dress made his "butt look fat".

Actor Bumi
Actor Bumi was seen for a short while. He wore a body suit over his own body to match the muscles of the real Bumi and donned a large hat decorated with colorful feathers. Unlike the real Bumi, who tended to speak in riddles, he seemed to have a rhyming scheme.

He is voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.

Actor Jet
Actor Jet was seen in only two scenes. He was shown flooding a village in an attempt to impress Actress Katara whereas the real Jet did it to rid the valley of the Fire Nation. Then he was going up on a rope with Katara, who commented how bad he was. He died later on when a hollow rock landed on him during his frenzy under Lake Laogai. In the Lake Laogai scenes he was made to seem as if he had hooks for hands (instead of his usual Hook Swords) and was wearing glasses to make his eyes look big, to give the impression he was hypnotized. He was also seen chewing on a flower rather than his trademark piece of wheat.

He was voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.

Trivia

 * On Nick.com, a different design for Actress Aang is used. This one is a small boy.