'Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse': life lessons and a lot of fun

By Candace Chaney Contributing Theatre Critic

I've seen a lot of shows about a lot of things, but a show about quality, enchanted handbags owned by mice who like to pretend they are royalty is a new one.

I must confess to doubting how there could even be a play with the word purse in its title.

Turns out, the Lexington Children's Theatre production of Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse is about more than what rodent accessories are en vogue this season. It is a glittery, purply, squealy, fun romp that also reveals important lessons about growing up — lessons that are just as relevant for human children as they are for mice children.

Director Vivian Snipes once again offers her young audience an entirely realized, lushly imagined world that both delights and instructs.

Lilly is a young, spunky mouse who ”loves everything!“ She is constantly armed with an arsenal of disguises and squirt guns, ”just in case.“ She also fancies herself ”queen of the world“ and has a crown to prove it.

Lilly's life is pretty awesome when the play opens. She makes new friends, a baby brother is on the way, and she can't wait to start school.

But even queens of the world sometimes have bad days. Even people, or should I say mice, who love everything sometimes … don't. Lilly's brother turns out to be a boring lump who can't play with her and who steals her family's attention. For the first time, Lilly is really unhappy.

Then Lilly makes a mistake that we all have made. The thing she thinks will solve all her problems is the very thing that makes them worse. Enter the purple plastic purse.

Lilly's grandmother takes her shopping, and after a ludicrously, riotously runway scene that includes the cast deliciously hamming it up as ”couture models,“ Lilly falls in love with the purple plastic purse, and her grandmother buys it for her. Suddenly, Lilly is indomitable. One of the highlights of the show is the string of fantasy scenes in which Lilly imagines dramatic and absurd ways that the purse will change her life. Enemies will bow to her! All will admire her! Her brother will get taken away!

What girl hasn't had a shopping experience that made her feel as if she could conquer her bit of the world? Besides, Lilly's purse doesn't just seem like magic to her — it really is. Somehow, when she is feeling happy and opens the purse, it plays music. Loud, rockin' music. And then everybody dances. Who wouldn't want to show off a purse like that?

Unfortunately, Lily takes her enthusiasm for her purse too far and ends up alienating her friends and causing a big disturbance at school that gets her in trouble with her favorite teacher. This is how she learns the hard lesson that making mistakes is part of growing up. How we deal with them is just as important as why we made them.

Laurel Green is simply bewitching as Lilly, full of sprightly energy and bratty charisma. The ensemble cast matches Green's dynamism, and together they create a richly colored world inhabited by sharply drawn characters (particularly since they are mice) who are not unlike the children sitting in the audience.

The school scenes are evidence of Snipes' particularly adept direction and the cast's mastery of natural timing. These scenes are full of quirky details and movements that wouldn't necessarily come to mind when one thinks of school, but that concretely re-create the little things about school that conjure the most effective imagery. Plenty of fidgeting, late entrances, and none-too-quiet whispers are just the kind of visceral things that bring the school experience to life and as a result, make Lilly's plight more realistic.

Adam Spencer's versatile set design allows the production to clip along swiftly. Its dramatic transitions from the happy, open field where Lilly lives to a school room to a boutique are smooth, almost musical in their rhythm. Caroline Voss's lighting design nicely frames the show's more poignant moments, and Lindsay Schmeling's costume design is refreshingly fun.

Another fine production, Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse is an excellent tool for helping children to learn how to apologize for their mistakes and how, like it or not, these mistakes make us better, happier people.

Note: Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse is in school performances until its public opening May 4. Tickets are sometimes available for the school performances but call ahead to make sure.