September 19, 2024
This October, Winthrop Theater will open up the curtains to introduce their production of “Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse”. “Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse” is expected to be lively, whimsical and exciting for all ages.
The adapted play is based on Kevin Henke’s 1996 children’s book of the same title. Stephen Gundersheim is the director of Winthrop’s production.
According to Winthrop University’s website, the story centers around, “a young mouse named Lilly learns to deal with the problems that many children face. It is a tale that emphasizes the importance of being considerate, apologizing when in the wrong and forgiving others when they apologize.”
Additionally, there are incorporated elements of Henke’s 1990 children’s book “Julius, the Baby of the World”, which follows the story of Lilly’s relationship with her little brother.
The cast, director, and stage crew are currently in the process of preparing for opening. The atmosphere of the rehearsal is evidently energetic and joyful.
They begin practice with a “question of the day” and breathing exercises.
One night, the question was: “What is your favorite computer or board game?” Voices yelled out answers one after another such as “Minecraft”, “Wizard101”, and “Animal Jams”.
The breathing exercise took place on the floor. Cast members laid down on the stage and attempted to count without interrupting one another. If two individuals called out a number at the same time, they reconvened and started again. After a few attempts, they made it up to 38.
Members of the cast wear a variety of eccentric shoes, such as bright red cowboy boots, to rehearse in. There’s a great deal of laughter and collaboration throughout practices; some of the cast run lines in the corners of the stage while others block off scenes and offer advice to each other.
The cast reconvenes throughout rehearsal to run chunks of the production and wait for Gundersheim’s expertise.
It is evident that the cast members of “Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse” hold a great deal of love for the production and their roles in bringing it to life.
Lily Moore, a sophomore musical theater major playing the role of Carol and “the Salesperson” said, “This play is just really special because everything about it is just fun and energetic. I know every night when I go into rehearsal we’re going to be doing something that’s silly and exciting and that is just gonna make me happy. So it just makes me look forward to rehearsal every single day.”
“Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse” is a children’s play, which offers many members of the cast the unique opportunity to reconnect with their inner child.
Destiny Gore, a senior theater performance major playing the role of Wilson, said, “This play really brings out my inner joy. It’s been a summer of me trying to heal my childhood and be free and just let myself do things that make me feel good. This show really gives us that opportunity. Stephen really lets us express ourselves as creatives and take creative liberties and stuff like that and it really makes me feel safe. It’s a really good space to be in.”
Devontaye Merrill, a junior musical theater major playing the role of Mr. Slinger, said, “You can see it in their [cast members] eyes that they’re actually really happy to be playing these characters – it just unlocks a childhood, when I feel like we kind of lose that innocence eventually.”
When asked about this topic, Moore said, “When we were talking about our characters and all that kind of stuff, I was looking at a ton of old tv-shows that I would watch in elementary school. My mom sent me a bunch of pictures of me in like 1st and 2nd grade. I was kind of thinking about trying to imagine my mindset at that time and just channel having those memories in my mind. It really helps me be really into it in rehearsal.”
Mason Hall, a junior theater education major playing the role of Chester, said, “I think it’s been difficult tapping back into the inner child at this point. But it’s been really fun getting to do that and explore that side of myself again because it’s been a while since I’ve gotten to be a second grader.”
The entirety of “Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse” had been described as whimsical and silly on multiple accounts. However, many cast members still have specific scenes in the production that stand out to them.
Hall said, “My personal favorite part of the show is probably Lily’s dream sequence at the end of act one. It’s this moment where Lily gets her titular purple plastic purse and she has this giant fun fantasy sequence about telling all her friends and family about it. It’s probably my favorite scene to perform- it’s just very fun and very cute.”
Cristian Concha, a freshman musical theater major playing the role of Ra said, “My favorite part of “Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse” has to be the classroom scene. It’s so chaotic but it’s so not chaotic at the same time – it’s just fun all around. It feels like I’m in second grade again, just talking to kids and being kids.”
Merrill said that his favorite line in the production is Mr.Slinger’s “Howdy”. He said, “Because they’ve [Mr.Slinger’s class] always had strict teachers, so for a teacher to walk in and be like “Howdy” or call the students “rodents” – I think that’s really funny.”
Even though “Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse” is lighthearted children’s theater, morals and depth are still present throughout the production.
When asked what the primary message of the production was, Merrill said, “I would say, for me, it is to not lose innocence. I feel like it is to find joy in the little things. It’s like Lily’s purple plastic purse, she loves it, it’s her world, and she wants to share that with everyone else. I think that we all have things that we wanna share with the world but we’re just not comfortable to.”
Makayla Largent, a senior musical theater major playing the role of “Mom”, said, “This is definitely an experience that teaches you to learn to appreciate the little things in life.
Largent additionally said, “It’s just a very heartwarming story and it’s fun for all families and all ages.”
The dates will take place Oct. 17 and Oct. 18 at 7:30PM and Oct. 19 and Oct. 20 at 2PM in Johnson Theater.
