In the span of the average person’s lifetime there are several moments when grief is unavoidably encoun­tered and, while one never quite gets used to loss, they will at least be better equipped to deal with it with maturity as their shield.

Studio 18’s Dear Pete, directed by Jean-Marc Cafà, seeks to explore and explain this same medium of death and grief to children in an innovative yet deeply relevant way. Working closely with a child psychologist with the view of tackling this all-important yet much ignored subject, Dear Pete is a group collaboration with the actors coming up with the charac­ters and script themselves using bits and pieces of their own dreams and experiences.

Seeking to make the piece as real and relatable as possible, Dear Pete is centred upon its 10-year-old protagonist, who visibly fluctuates between the five stages of grief after his mother dies. With little to no knowledge of his absent, rock star father, Pete’s limited knowledge of him was passed on by his mother following his father’s abrupt departure from the young family’s life.

Although we are led to understand that Pete lives alone with just a wooden dog named Splint for company (a substitute for the real dog that he had begged his mother to buy him every Christmas), Pete is far from lonely and is constantly being looked after by various members of his neighbourhood.

Besides this, a magic plant deli­vers him messages from his mother that help guide him through his day and teach him how to better look after himself. Cheerful as he is on the surface, Pete is shaken by grief and frustration when a new friend enters his life and he is unable to give him the help he needs.

This leads Pete to question once again why it is that he has effectively been left alone to fend for himself. In addition to this, the plant which he relies on for help and reassurance, is not delivering in the way it should – a very fertile metaphor for the fact that life is not always able to step in and stop bad things from happening, and that sometimes we have no choice but to try to gain strength from within.

A beautifully evocative piece

With its dream-like qualities and symbolically-rich dialogue, the play’s plot twists invite the audience to see the world from the point of view of a young, grieving boy who is trying to deal with reality through his fertile imagination. Whether he dreams up performing toys or tries to use bandages to make his wounded friend as comfortable as possible, Pete offers great insight into the mind of a 10-year-old abandoned to his own devices by fate.

While the show is primarily aimed at children (they are strongly encouraged to attend in costume), it also possesses a complexity that adults will definitely be able to enjoy and relate to. Not only do all the characters have surprising depth given how young some of the actors are, but there are several poignant moments that have a beautiful significance tied to them.

One such metaphor that was undoubtedly striking was that of a girl being supposedly offered many keys to a room which she was trying to get out of. At the same rate that the keys were being proffered, they were also being withdrawn, which meant that, ultimately, she was only able to get out when she was finally able to produce one of her own.

I read this as a tell-tale lesson that it is we who ultimately need to find the passage out of our own sadness in our own unique way.

Indeed, the message of self-sufficiency and the importance of remaining true to oneself and one’s beliefs is a prevalent characteristic of the piece but it is beautifully tempered with the motif that one is never alone.

Pete may not have flesh and blood relations, but his mum is watching over him from above, sending him messages to remind him that the ones we love never leave us and that they will continue to watch over us and prepare the way for others who will follow them into the great beyond.

Dear Pete is a beautifully evocative piece which not only seeks to give children guidance through the darker moments of their life, but also serves as an evocative reminder of the fact that it is not circumstance that dictates who we become but what we choose to do and see with the hand that life has dealt us.

This initiative is part of the Spazju Kreattiv programme and will be held at St James Cavalier Theatre on Friday, Saturday and next Sunday. It is recommended for children between the ages of six and 10. All children are welcome to wear their carnival costume. For tickets, call 2122 3200, www.kreattivita.org.

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