By Avery Goodstine

Theater’s “All I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” debuted Thursday, Oct. 18, and left both the cast and audience members in awe with beautiful music, comedy, and meaningful lessons.

The show is based on a book of short essays written by Robert Fulghum in the late 1980’s. It was immensely popular at the time, and the show is comprised of scenes from the book.

Many important life lessons are dealt with throughout the show, beginning at the stages of early childhood, and ending with being an adult.

One scene in the show called “Hide and Seek,” is about dealing with suffering.

It starts with a group of kids playing hide and go seek, and then shows a situation in which a man is diagnosed with cancer and he chooses to suffer alone, not wanting to cause sadness on anyone else.

Co-director DJ Sprankle said, “It starts off almost commedic and then you get into the deeper meaning of it where this man has something serious going on and he isn’t telling anyone because he doesn’t want anyone else to suffer.”

He dies from his cancer, and at his funeral, people are mad he never told them. People are mad that he hid his suffering. He was the last one to be found in the grown-up game of hide and go seek.

“Hide and Seek was a roller coaster to work on,” said Sprankle. “We had to make sure to get the characterization right. It’s a very emotional scene.”

Another favorite scene is the very last one called “Reflect the Light.”

“We are all individual people in the show and we are basically talking about the meaning of life,” said actor Shannon Dinkler. “It’s my favorite scene because it is so artistic and so beautiful.”

“You get to the end and it’s all about reflecting on your life. It’s all about putting light into the darkest places,” Sprankle said. “There is so much you can take away from it.”

Co-director Sera Aycud said, “It goes into such a deep meaning of what life is and how we can be the light and be kind and be all of these good things to better ourselves.”

“The message that was put through the scene really resonated with me,” Dinkler said.

“The show was full of a lot of life lessons,” Sprankle said. “A lot of us lose passion as we grow older and I think [the show] should push people to just keep going and to get that passion back again.”

“[The show] allows [the audience] to think more about life,” added Aycud.

“When you come to see the show, be there with an open mind and hear what we are trying to say,” said Dinkler. “Each scene really has its’ own meaning.”

“The audience members can reevaluate the people they are,” said Aycud.

“Look at each scene as something you can incorporate into your own life,” said Dinkler, “because then you are going to leave the show a better person.”