‘Seedfolks’ Greets the Essence of Summer

Patrick Regan

For many parents, there’s a brief period of time between the end of school and the start of camp. It’s not enough time for a vacation and too much time for idleness. The Wallis-Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts has stepped in to help with their brief, two-day production of “Seedfolks.” Based on the children’s book of the same name by Newbery Award-winning author and Santa Monica native Paul Fleischman (“Joyful Noise,” “Weslandia”) and directed by Peter C. Brosius.

“Seedfolks” tells the story of an empty lot in a small neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio, and its transition into a lush community garden that brings the neighborhood together. Thirteen voices, each from a different background, tell their personal stories of transformation as we watch the garden grow around them.

The expansive cast makes this perfect for children who will find someone who looks like them while parents looking for entertainment with a message will appreciate the play’s themes of diversity, growth and finding joy even when times are difficult.

Paul Fleischman is the son of Betty Taylor and author Sid Fleischman (who also won the Newbery Award for his novel “The Whipping Boy,”) and the inspiration for the book came from the gardens his parents nurtured at their home in Santa Monica. The garden was a source of respite for his father but for his mother, it was a way of reaching out to the larger community and helping to heal the mental wounds of veterans.

When Playscripts asked Fleischman what he would put into a community garden he had a surprising answer: corn.

“…because of my parents’ taking up our lawn and planting the first (and only?) front-yard cornfield in Santa Monica, CA. The ears wouldn’t be picked until the water was boiling. Then the melting butter, the march of your incisors down the cob, steam heating your cheekbones. The essence of summer . . . .”

At one hour long and appropriate for ages eight and up, “Seedfolks” is a perfect way to greet the essence of summer with your family.

“Seedfolks” will show at Lovelace Studio Theater at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on June 4, 5 & 9.