The Only Nursery Open On The 31st
Written by Amber Manini
It would be funny if I told you Happy Samhain (pronounced sow-in) instead of simply saying Happy Halloween! Around 2,000 years ago, Halloween as we know it today was a Samhain celebration by a group of people called the Celt’s. In an area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Northern France, the Celt’s believed that the night before the new year, October 31st, was the night the boundary between the world’s of the living and the dead became blurred. In a time before a long dark winter, the Celt’s believed that October 31st was a night in which the dead were given the opportunity to wreak havoc on earth. It is from the Celtic tradition of celebrating Samhain that we now have acquired many customs from different time periods amounting to what we now know as Halloween.
Halloween has become one of many American traditions. Combining both America’s past and it’s present culture. Nursery rhymes are another one of America’s traditions. A series of poems and songs that are taught and shared with to children that also tell a story. However, what if these so called “happy” nursery rhymes that we were taught as children really had a grim ending. For instance, “Ring around the Rosie, A pocket full of Posie, Ashes, Ashes, We all Fall Down” is in reference to the children that died in the black plague. This simple nursery rhyme is something that as children and some of us as adults today see an image of smiling children playing, dancing to the rhythmic melody. However, the poetry alludes to something different.
It is these simple American traditions that have inspired UH Hilo Performing Arts senior, Chanelle Crawford. As a senior majoring in Performing Arts with a concentration in music, Crawford is required to do what is known as the senior project. A project that allows students the first hand experiences of creating and being a part of a live production. Whether it be a play, musical or concert, students have the opportunity to take their area of focus and create a live masterpiece.
The Haunted Nursery featuring a senior project for the UH Hilo Performing Arts program. Flyer provided by Chanelle Crawford.
As Chanelle explains, her bone-chilling senior project came to be one day when she was walking past the wheelchair ramp at the UH Hilo theater. Crawford, a child who grew up creating multiple haunted houses in her two car garage port at home thought the idea of a confined wheelchair ramp haunted house would make the perfect Halloween treat.
“I knew the basic materials I needed and also had a rather large collection of Halloween decorations at home as well, I just needed to come up with a theme that wasn't going to cost any money related to royalties and what not. Be it that I am a music major, I figured I would have to create the soundtrack to make it count towards my major. The first thing that came to my mind was nursery rhymes. It all started with Ring Around the Rosey and the idea of a few creepy looking dolls sitting on an abandoned playground carousel that was spinning by itself in the wind,” said Crawford.
With a total of fifteen to twenty different nursery rhymes mixed together with some spooky sounds, Crawford and her fellow colleague Kawehi Kanoho-Kalahiki along with a cast of thirty UH Hilo Students have created an event featuring the nursery you never grew up with!
As Americans there are a series of celebrations that most of us may even consider being rites of passage. Trick or Treating as a child, dressing up in our favorite costumes and getting the guts to walk through a haunted house are just some of the celebrations a part of living the American dream. Take a stop and re-live the glory, visit The Haunted Nursery this Halloween and experience the nursery you never knew.
