Didi’s Keys Helps Children Problem-Solve

On December 5th, around 125 families with young children from throughout out community gathered at the Cubberley Theater to watch a theater performance from Israel called Didi’s Keys. The performance put on by Lior Productions and was brought to Cubberley by CPSC and PACCC who joined together to sponsor the event.

Didi’s Keys is the story of Didi who gets very angry at his mother when she cannot play with him. Didi fusses and fumes and then embarks on a magical journey with his friends, jackal and giraffe. He goes to find his mother and meets many seemingly insurmountable obstacles along the way

A young fan enjoys a moment with Didi's Key's actors.Jackal always suggests overpowering the obstacles physically, while giraffe counsels deep breaths to calm down, and thoughtful reflection to come up with a solution. Didi learns that calming down, using his eyes, ears, and brain to come up with a solution always works better than striking out in anger.

Didi’s Keys is a two person play filled with charming dialog, engaging music and songs, and suspense and drama. The audience was invited onto the stage at several points in the play to sing and dance with the performers. And back in their seats, they continued to clap and dance, laugh and hold their breath as the play unfolded.

CPSC and PACCC were delighted to be able to bring Didi’s Keys to the children of the Palo Alto community. It is based on a method for handling difficult emotions called Nonviolent Communication. The characters of the jackal and giraffe help children and their parents talk about different ways of reacting to anger. So not only was the play a lot of fun, it gave the families who attended a new vocabulary to talk about difficulties every child encounters.