Explaining the harder parts of life to a young child can be particularly difficult. In a collaborative effort between the youth Creative Lab, with music by Francesco Grech and St James Cavalier, Studio 18 created a whimsical piece of theatre aimed at young children aged six to 10.
Dear Pete seeks to explore the manner in which young Pete, aged 10, deals with his lonely life after his father leaves home “to become a rockstar” and his mother passes away.
Running this weekend at St James Cavalier, and directed by Jean-Marc Cafà, this often light-hearted, sometimes poignant, highly-visual piece deals with the idea of stories within stories.
Pete (Ben Abela) is a character in a book read by Harriet (Laura Buhagiar), Olivia (Francesca Fenech) and Colin (Andrew Micallef), who also function as puppeteers throughout the piece. His life as a quirky, sweet-natured boy with a positive attitude belies a much sadder reality where he feels completely alone without his mother and relies on his imaginary dog Splint and the kindness of friends and neighbours to get by.
His only solace is a plant (puppeteered by Nick Gambin) which he talks to and connects him to his mother, giving him nightly stories which he reads and imagines into fantastical coping mechanisms.
His life as a quirky, sweet-natured boy with a positive attitude belies a much sadder reality where he feels completely alone without his mother
When a very real dog enters his life one stormy night, Pete takes him in and tries to help him recover but gradually he becomes more ill, leading Pete to lose his positive take on life.
It is only thanks to a new spate of dreams that he begins to realise that he’ll always have someone to look out for him if he relies on his friends. They too are more similar to him than he thinks, as they’ve all coped with personal grief and know how he feels.I enjoyed the interpretations given by Buhagiar as the forthright Harriet, as well as Micallef and Abela’s mirroring scene – depicting Pete’s morning routine.
Daniel Galea’s Charlie and Lara Agius’s Trudy were also well constructed character pieces, showing maturity in the way the characters were portrayed. Megan Bonello’s Chloe, Pete’s best friend, and Martina Cuschieri as Becca and the plant’s voice both had the opportunity to showcase their vocal strength.
The cast is certainly well-disciplined in stage craft and have the added benefit of being co-creators of this devised piece, with the help of the Studio 18 Creative Team, who engaged experts in several aspects, including a child psychologist.
Thus the exploration of the five stages of grief is represented in a manner that is accessible to children and effective, based on their perspectives.
The performance is a riot of action, colour and music, providing an hour of full-on interaction for its young audiences and is certainly entertaining enough to be worth taking the children in your life to. A great way of exploring the darker side of very human issues while giving it a very positive spin.
■ Dear Pete is being staged at St James Cavalier on Friday and Saturday at 6.30pm and Sunday at 5pm. Tickets may be obtained by calling 2122 3200 or online at www.kreattivita.org.