By Shannon Neu, Staff Writer

Published in print Apr. 1, 2015

Audience members were moved to laughter and tears last weekend during the North Carolina Theatre for Young People’s presentation of “Dani Girl”. Both hilarious and heartrending, “Dani Girl” tells the moving story of a nine-year-old girl with leukemia. The production was full of hope and embodied the unconquerable power of imagination.

The play begins with Dani playing a morbid game in a hospital room. It has been three years since Dani beat leukemia for the first time. Now it is back, and it is worse than ever.

With the company of her teddy bear, Mr. Fritz, and her flamboyant guardian angel, Raph (short for Raphael), Dani uses her boundless imagination to cope with being stuck in a hospital room. During a game of “Trivial Pursuit of Death,” with Raph, Dani loses when she is unable to answer the final question: “Why is Cancer?” Raph explains that if she can find the answer to the question, she will be able to get back the hair she lost due to chemotherapy treatment.

When Marty, a boy with Hodgkin’s Disease, becomes Dani’s new roommate, they join forces to try to come up with an answer to the recurring question, “Why is Cancer?” Together, they travel through Mr. Fritz’s ovary, space and heaven in hopes of finding an answer to their question. Cancer, dressed in various costumes, repeatedly gets in the way of the pair’s quests and attempts to defeat them with emotional manipulation and a light saber battle.

Songs with clever lyrics and morbid themes, with titles such as “God is Dead,” “Side by Side by Suicide,” and “Comaland,” cover a wide spectrum of emotions throughout the play.

When Dani isn’t imagining grand adventures and games, she spends time with her mother in her hospital room, who assures her that rest and prayer will help destroy the cancer. Though she strongly believes in the power of religious faith, she is cynical towards the fairy tales that Dani adores. Dani realizes that perhaps believing and make-believing aren’t all that different, and what really matters is how they make you feel.

Dani’s mother, elegantly played by Barbara Mootoo, then realizes it is clear that Dani is dying. She proceeds to face her denial of fairy tale-like happy endings and advances into an intensely beautiful and heartbreaking song, “The Sun Still Rose”.

The play spirals into an emotional ending that brings closure to the story and prompts audience members to consider what it really means to spend one’s life “living”.

Directed by Claire Simpson, “Dani Girl” was overwhelmingly beautiful and tragic. Each cast member gave a performance with high levels of enthusiasm that made the play incredibly captivating. Melissa Blackwell and Adrian Thornburg were convincing nine-year-olds and performed their musical numbers with beautifully triumphant voices.

Ashley Grantham displayed a fascinatingly diverse array of theatrical and musical talent, convincingly switching between the roles of the playful Raph and villainous Cancer.

Kevin Black also gave an excellent performance with his portrayal of both Dani’s father and God. His conversation with Dani as God at the conclusion of the play was particularly cathartic.

Saturday’s matinee performance was especially impressive, as cast members and crew had to relocate and give their show in Taylor Theater after the Brown Building, where the play was originally intended to be presented, lost power. The play opened on Friday (Mar. 27) and also ran on Sunday (Mar. 29).

UNCG’s North Carolina Theatre for Young People performs live theatre for children across the state and throughout the region. Emphasizing educational and artistic programming, the ensemble performs plays drawn from contemporary literature, classics and original works. NCTYP also offers outreach programs and touring productions.