Theater Review

“Skeleton Stories,” running until Nov. 6 at the Theatre of NOTE in Hollywood, draws inspiration from the vibrant traditions and beliefs of Dia de los Muertos and adds a dash of Halloween horror just for kicks.

Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a three-day celebration that honors the dead and in turn celebrates the cycle of life. Its origins can be traced back to the ancient civilizations of the Aztecs and Mayans.

Written by L.A.-based playwright Delondra Williams, “Skeleton Stories” tells the coming-of-age tale of a girl named Maya as she struggles to understand the mysterious meaning of womanhood.

Maya (Nina Harada) journeys through the underworld in search of her dead mother. As in the Dia de los Muertos myth, she has a guide dog (played by Rick Steadman in a canine skull mask) who helps her navigate through various levels of the underworld, including passing a cave, crossing a deep river, climbing a mountain and finally facing the Lord of the Underworld.

On her journey, Maya encounters various souls of the dead, each with their own story to tell. The main plot of the play is thus interspersed with shorter but significant scenes of other people’s experiences of death and loss.

There’s a grieving young widower in a park, a pedophile recounting his foot fetish in prison and a pair of lovers who barely know each other in a bedroom. Each locale is convincingly rendered. While some of the scenes suffer from overly sentimental language and situation, the majority of the scenes are engaging, thoughtful and poignant.

The standout story takes place on Halloween night in an apocalyptic, gunshot-ridden future, with two women in skimpy costumes and a soldier who barges in to seek shelter. The scene is the epitome of what makes this production very special ““ kitsch Halloween horror mixed with real horror, in which one moment, the scene is a joke, and the next, it’s not, alternatively funny and disturbing.

Remarkable lighting design by Matt Richter makes for an absorptive onstage environment. The audience never ceases to be immersed in the haunting and otherworldly mood of the play, a real treat of the production. The chilling sound effects and music are also effective.

The use of skull half-masks in the play takes from Dia de los Muertos traditions, as does the altar at the back of the stage decked out with skulls and other decorations.

True to the festivities that inspired it, “Skeleton Stories” has captured a quintessential balance of horror, humor and sense of life.

E-mail Zhang at [email protected].