It is Carmela's seventh birthday and she is taking us along for the ride.
Review: 'Carmela Full of Wishes' is filled with dreams and heart
The comedy-drama was adapted from a book by Matt de la Peña.
October 26, 2022 at 10:00AM
Our guide through "Carmela Full of Wishes" is the title character (played by Maya Haugen at the Children's Theatre Company performance I attended), who whizzes around on her scooter for almost the entire one-hour running time. She's an energetic, sunny kid — in the margins of the play, you get a sense that her energy sometimes tries the patience of her mom and, especially, older brother Miguel (I saw Luca La Hoz Calassara, who alternates with Elliot Lipschultz).
Carmela scoots all over Regina Garcia's colorful, semi-realistic set — which represents neighborhood spots including a bike store, bodega and laundromat — accompanying Miguel on his errands. Early in the day, Carmela spots a dandelion and she spends much of the day imagining what she'll use it to wish for: a delicious paleta? A visit with a friend? Or something to do with her father, whose absence is gradually explained over the course of the play?
One of the broader, younger-skewing offerings at CTC (it's recommended for ages 5 and up), "Carmela" goes deeper than it may seem at first. Much of the play, which is in English and Spanish, is taken up with magical realism-style scenes in which Carmela envisions what it would be like if her wishes were to come true.
Director Tatyana-Marie Carlo uses subtle shifts in acting style, lighting and music to capture these dream sequences. And Carmela directly addresses the audience — like Hamlet, she's a protagonist who misses her dad and chats with us about it — to draw us into her thought process.
It's a smart way to acknowledge that kids — the ones onstage and in the seats — have the best imaginations. But the subtext makes us think about what leads to Carmela's behavior. A dreamy kid, it's possible she's manifesting these alternate scenarios, rather than just imagining them. It's also possible that Carmela needs to escape into her dreams because her reality — friends moving away, a dad she's not sure she'll ever see again, a brother too occupied by adolescence to attend to her — is rough.
The sharp cast of four plays multiple roles, keeping things moving along briskly, so "Carmela" never feels as dark as that probably sounds (like CTC's 2018 "Last Stop on Market Street," it's based on a book by Matt de la Peña). But the contrast between the cheery story we're seeing onstage and the less rosy subtext is fascinating because it acknowledges something that is a factor in much of the best children's theater: that on some level kids are aware of, and thinking about, much more than the adults in their lives may realize.
'Carmela Full of Wishes'
Who: By Alvaro Saar Rios, adapted from a book by Matt de la Peña. Directed by Tatyana-Marie Carlo.
Where: Children's Theatre Company, 2400 3rd Av. S., Mpls.
When: 7 p.m. Thu.-Fri., 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sat., 2 and 5 p.m. Sun. Ends Dec. 4.
Tickets: $15-$64, 612-874-0400 or childrenstheatre.org.
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