Shedding light on impoverished children and lead poisoning, Cleveland Play House premieres 'Watching Butterflies'

Five children find themselves in a strange, empty room with no windows, no doors and no phones to call home. They're unsure of how they got there and how to get out. What sounds like a fun escape room experience is instead a deep and dark dive into what it's like living in Cleveland's underresourced communities. Therein lies the heart of Cleveland Play House's "Watching Butterflies," which runs June 17 through 24 at Playhouse Square's Outcalt Theatre. The premiere production is part of a global project aimed at shedding light on the lives of impoverished children. "This is the brainchild of Liesbeth Coltof, a Dutch artist of renown," said Cleveland-based Eric Schmiedl, who is the playwright of "Watching Butterflies." "She started to work in children's theater and really made a mark globally in that field. "She moved on to this project she created with dramaturge Dennis Meyer where they embed themselves in communities around the world to find out what's going on — and specifically what's going on with children in that community. So they've been to South Africa, South America and Germany. Cleveland is their city in the United States." "Watching Butterflies" is part of 10CHILDREN Cleveland, a new collaboration between Cleveland Play House, Cleveland State University's School of Film & Media Arts, LAND studio, Amber N. Ford and The MetroHealth System and its Center for Arts in Health. The production is designed to shine a light on environmental justice and the effects of lead exposure. As far as the play's narrative, it came from interactions and conversations with families from four Cleveland communities — Clark-Fulton, West Boulevard, Slavic Village and the Union-Miles area. "We just sort of talked about what's going on in their lives, what are issues that are of concern to them," he said. "One of the things that emerged was the issue of lead poisoning with regard to children. "We brainstormed and came up with an overall story. Lisbeth was really interested in exploring an absurdist style because it seemed to make sense to address some social issues but within an accessible, sort of theatrical framework and not become too preachy." The result is a play that celebrates ingenuity, humor, determination and resilience. For comparison, Schmiedl pointed to "Waiting for Godot." "It's kind of wacky in its sensibilities," he said. "The beautiful thing about this style is it allows us to use all of the elements of theater to start things and stop things and step off into fantasy and come back to reality. "Hopefully this will open up conversations about how do we help make systems better responsive to the needs of the people they're serving." And at the very least, it's not too often one can "pay what you choose" to attend a Playhouse Square show. "Yeah, it's a great thing," he said. Contact John Benson at ndiffrence@att.net. IF YOU GO WHAT: Cleveland Play House presents "Watching Butterflies"WHEN: June 17 through 24 (times vary)WHERE: Outcalt Theatre, 1407 Euclid Ave., Cleveland TICKETS: Pay what you chooseINFO: (216) 241-6000 or clevelandplayhouse.com