THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 12, 1996 TAG: 9610120063
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E5 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Theater Review
SOURCE: BY WENDY GROSSMAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 64 lines
FOLLOW THE path of marigold blossoms into the Generic Theater today to see the Child's Play original production of ``Lily y La Mariposa'' (``Lily and the Butterfly'').
The play leads off a series of eight children's theater productions held the second Saturday of each month.
Starting off their second season, ``Lily y La Mariposa'' is written by local playwright Lucinda McDermott, who wrote the wacky ``Rapping Rapunzel'' for Child's Play last season.
The current show is based on the Mexican Dia del Muerto, the Day of the Dead, which is Nov. 1 and 2.
``It's the Hispanic version of Halloween,'' said Frankie Little Hardin, producer and director of the Child's Play program.
But it's not all trick-or-treating, pranks and candy; the play explores the impact of death on young children. Still, it's a lot of fun, Little Hardin said.
Lily crosses eight hot deserts, climbs towering mountains and fords a river on the back of a little red dog as she works through her grief over her aunt's death.
Lily questions: ``Where's Aunt Becky? Is she small enough to fit on the head of a pin? Is she big enough to fill this room? Is she watching me right now? I wish she was here so I could tell her how angry I am for her leaving us. Where is my Aunt Becky?''
Through the play, Lily learns that her aunt's spirit and love live on with her memory. Lily learns to laugh again, even though she's hurting.
``Lily learns to cope with the death of her aunt through the help of her friend Miguel,'' Little Hardin said. ``I think (parents are) afraid that it's going to be heavy and scary for kids. It's funny and moving. We've ended rehearsals a couple of times in tears, because it has that real beauty that shines through at the end the message of hope and that love endures.''
Woven into the text are the customs of the Mexican Dia del Muerto.
The company spent five hours making pan del muerto (bread of the dead), shaped like little people sprinkled with pink sugar. In the show, Lily makes an ofrenda, literally meaning an altar, but it's a memory place decorated with flowers and pictures of deceased loved ones. For Aunt Becky, Lily places a doll, a big warm scarf and her aunt's picture.
``We look at skeletons and bones and think it's gruesome and halloweeny,'' McDermott says. ``For the Mexicans, if they play with skeletons or dance with a skeleton, it's a way of welcoming the spirits of their dead loved ones back.''
The Aztecs believed that the spirit of the dead rode off on the wings of a butterfly. And at the end of the play, Lily makes a wreath of flowers for her aunt and says goodbye. Kids and adults in the audience are invited to add a marigold in memory of any departed loved one they remember and miss.
``We have a funeral and that's it,'' McDermott says. ``I hope that through Lily's experience, children and parents might see that when someone dies, and they're gone, they can be with us at any time. It doesn't take a visit to a grave site. It can be whatever connection you make in your heart.
``The best that person had to give you can be just a thought away.'' ILLUSTRATION: THEATER REVIEW
``Lily y La Mariposa,'' Child's Play production for children
When: 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. today
Where: Generic Theater, 912 W. 21st St., Norfolk.
Call: 441-2160. by CNB