Scene from rehearsals for two one-act plays opening March 7 at Los Alamos Little Theatre. Photo by Zachary Baker
Scene from rehearsals for two one-act plays opening March 7 at Los Alamos Little Theatre. Photo by Zachary Baker
Scene from rehearsals for two one-act plays opening March 7 at Los Alamos Little Theatre. Photo by Zachary Baker
LALT NEWS RELEASE
The Los Alamos Little Theatre (LALT) invites you to Myths & Moonbows, two one-act plays for two weekends of whimsical fun and heartfelt storytelling. The show opens on March 7 and runs through March 16, with performances at 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays March 7, 8, 14, and 15, and matinees at 2 p.m. Sundays March 9 and 16. Please note the early start time for the evening performances.
Friday and Saturday shows cost $15 for general admission and $12 tickets for seniors, students, and school employees with IDs. Sunday matinees are discounted, with all tickets at $12.
In “The Myths at the Edge of the World” by Matthew Webster, four campers find they are lost at the edge of the world with no land, water, stars or sun. The only way to bring life back is to ask the right questions that will release stories from the wind. These stories come from all over, including China, Africa, and indigenous Americans.
In “Moonbow Miraculous” by Kirk Shimano, a series of vignettes explores how all of us can learn to accept diversity of all types — everything from robots to talking donuts — and celebrate others and ourselves.
Director Mimi Adams (“The Secret Garden,” “A Wrinkle in Time,” “The Neverending Story”) welcomes the young and young-of-heart for this romp through mythology and identity, featuring a couple dozen youth and a handful of adults.
“In this show, the adults and the kids work as a team,” Adams said. “I love seeing adults and young people working together and figuring out how to get along with and trust each other. The kids are just as capable as the adults as performers. The adults help curb the kid’s boisterous exuberance. The kids remind the adults that this is supposed to be more fun and enjoyable than stressful.”
She added, “I also knew I wanted it to be something other than just funny and silly, because the depths of communication between generations and of young people’s feelings, thoughts, and ideas are too often dismissed as funny, silly, or shallow.”
Beneath the colorful veneer of the show, Adams explained that there are some serious themes being addressed.
“These shows are meaningful to me,” Adams said. “When I picked them, I cared about their messages, but I didn’t know how timely they would end up being. What does it take to build a world? Because no matter where we are in time and what is happening, we are all still building our world. It requires listening to each other. It requires cooperation even when there is disagreement. It requires paying attention to and learning from the past. It requires cooperation, respect, and openness. Without these things we risk being lost at the edge, with no guidance, no help, and no direction.”
Adams asked, “How do we hold our world together? I like to think of our world as a big blue boat sailing through space, with ALL of us, from the tiniest microbe to the largest whale, members of the crew and passengers. Compared to the cosmos, our world is tiny. Compared to all the life that lives here, our world is enormous. There is enough room, enough space, and plenty of places to accommodate everyone — whether a ladybug, a raven, a human, or a buffalo herd. There is NO ONE who doesn’t fit, who doesn’t belong.”
The combined one-acts represent, for Adams, “a powerful statement of acceptance of diversity, equality and inclusion. And I hope that someday, when [the cast and crew] look back at this experience, they not only remember the fun, the excitement, and the fulfillment, but that they realize that they were part of a message of acceptance and love, at a time when that message was deeply needed.”
Adams said that for her, everything she does is “centered in love. My love for the cast and crew of this show has pushed me forward at my most exhausted … My love has inspired me to share my vision, and to take suggestions to enhance and improve my vision by melding it with other people’s ideas and suggestions, especially those of the cast and crew of the show — who have great ideas and suggestions — into what has become this production. I hope that everyone who watches or is involved in the production is filled with the magic of myths and the mystery of moonbows.”
Assistant Director Wendy Caldwell Lanchier described the fun of putting this show together.
“The cast is phenomenal,” Caldwell Lanchier said. “I regularly laugh out loud during rehearsal because of how expressive they are. They aren’t just actors; they are storytellers.”
She added that “the show has something for everyone. We’ve got talking trees, water dragons, lost campers — and that’s just the first part. My favorite part is the donut scene, but I’m not going to say why. You’ll have to come see the show!”
Crew for the show include first-time LALT Producer Amy Mills, Technical Director Hadley Hershey (director of LALT’s “Chicago”), and Stage Manager Megan Pimentel (also directing the Los Alamos High School Olions’ current production, “The Putnam County Spelling Bee”). Cast includes children from local elementary and middle schools, as well as high-school aged home-schoolers. Both plays are produced by special arrangement with Theatrefolk (theatrefolk.com).
Los Alamos Little Theatre is a member-driven, non-profit 501(c)3 organization that has been presenting community theatre since 1943 for the entertainment and engagement of Northern New Mexico audiences. Information about the current season is available at www.lalt.org, where visitors can also sign up for email notices of readings, auditions, performances and special events.