FOR KIDS : ‘I Smile at the Sun’ Comes to Life for All Ages

One afternoon, Judith Barrett Lawson received a telephone call from her younger sister, who was then 3.

“Her voice was literally skipping with excitement,” Lawson said. “She talked about the rituals of her day, like getting dressed, eating breakfast and brushing her teeth, as if they were the greatest toys in the world. And then she simply said, ‘I go outside and I smile at the sun.’ I was knocked out. What an image. What pure wonder. Her words have always stuck in my head.”

Ten years later, in September, Lawson’s verse play “I Smile at the Sun” opened. It reopens at Two Roads Theatre in Studio City on Saturday.

Writing children’s poetry “really wasn’t something that I thought I’d ever do,” said Lawson, 36. “But once I started the project, I just couldn’t stop.” She has written two screenplays that were optioned but not produced and worked as a casting agent for more than 10 years.

In 1989, Lawson wrote more than 100 poems about Popsicles, milkshakes, bothersome siblings, grandparents and sunny days. Of these, 45 were selected for an experimental hourlong play with seven actors and virtually no props.

“These poems basically stand on their own merit and they work on many different levels,” said Mark York, artistic director at Two Roads and the play’s director. “I wanted to bring something to life that would touch children as well as adults. This definitely does. Judi has a sense of rhythm and joy.”

Lawson, who grew up in Washington state, was always full of mischief. She often spoke in rhyme or devised elaborate word games to tease her sisters--one older and one younger--while they cleaned their rooms or picked cherries for extra money.

At Pepperdine University, where she studied theater and English, she continued to fool around with poetry, she said, by concocting silly rhymes about her dorm mates or university professors. One of her professors was York.

“I found Dr. Seuss as interesting as Kierkegaard,” Lawson said. “Shel Silverstein is another favorite. I like poetry that really speaks to children. It should push the listener with concepts as well as language. Good children’s poetry doesn’t have an age limit.”

Reaction to the September production was unexpected.

“I think we were all a little surprised by the outpouring of positive response,” York said. “I mean, there’s some really funny stuff in these poems, and we got the laughs.”

There were also a few tears.

“My life hasn’t been a bed of roses,” Emily Hernandez, 28, of North Hollywood said after seeing the play. “There was some pretty difficult times because my father was an alcoholic. But when I saw ‘I Smile at the Sun,’ I remembered some of the brighter times, moments that I can pass on to my daughter.

“Besides, my 4-year-old was spellbound by the play. Later that day, I overheard her in the back yard talking to herself about trees and big knees. I had never heard her do that before. I guess it’s time to bring out some Dr. Seuss.”

“I Smile at the Sun” opens for an indefinite run at 1 p.m. Saturday at Two Roads Theatre, 4348 Tujunga Ave., Studio City. Tickets are $10, $5 for children. Call (818) 766-9381.

Morgan writes regularly for The Times .