Local theater presents play for Charlie

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Editor’s note: This story is part five of an ongoing series about 3-year-old Charlie Waller’s fight against a rare cancer. Charlie’s father John is a history and Lyman Briggs professor and his mother, Abigail, is a field liaison and partnership coordinator at the MSU School of Social Work.

Part 1: Community shows support for young cancer patient
Part 2: Friends of Charlie – Friends and family rally around the Wallers
Part 3: A day to remember – 3-year-old cancer patient spends birthday at the zoo with his family
Part 4: Searching for a cure – A rare form of cancer has left the Waller family searching for alternative methods of treatment
Part 5: A Chance for Charlie – As school begins again, a unique diet offers hope for the Wallers

As the lights dimmed in the small theatre, 3-year-old Charlie Waller pressed his finger to his mouth to quiet his family.

On the stage, two children passed a ball back and forth. Charlie pointed to the boy and asked, “Is that me, Mommy?”

An audience of several dozen watched young actors perform “Charlie and the Hump Sisters,” a play about Charlie, an avid animal-lover, and his 7-year-old sister Esther Waller’s adventure searching for camels at the zoo, Saturday and Sunday at the Mid Michigan Family Theatre, 440 Frandor Ave., in Lansing.

Charlie, the son of MSU faculty members John and Abigail Waller, was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer in early April.

Proceeds from the ticket sales were donated to help the family pay for Charlie’s medical expenses. Donations also were collected. More than $1,000 was raised.

Dora Ivkovich, 7, wrote the play and acted as Esther.

“I want to help Charlie,” she said. “I think he’ll be happy seeing his own self riding a camel.”

Dora Ivkovich, the daughter of criminal justice professor Sanja Kutnjak and finance professor Zoran Ivkovich, volunteered at a charity garage sale for Charlie this summer. After the garage sale, she wanted to do more to help Charlie.

She wrote and illustrated a picture book about his story and then contacted the theatre director to convert it into a play.

“Dora saw this as beyond a book,” Zoran Ivkovich said. “She wanted a way Charlie could understand it even more.”

Charlie cuddled in the arms of his mother, Abigail Waller, as he watched 9-year-old Ryan Dahl perform as him on stage Saturday.

Dahl and Charlie met for the first time after the performance.

“I thought, ‘Oh, this little boy is cute,’” Dahl said.

The play was an opportunity for the child actors to learn more than proper staging and memorizing lines — it was a chance to learn life lessons and more about Charlie’s disease, Director Bill Gordon said.

“There’s an undertone,” Gordon said. “They want to have fun because they’re kids, but when it comes down to it, they know it’s for a good cause.”

Children diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, such as Charlie, typically live up to two years after their diagnosis. The cancer is woven into his brainstem, making it inoperable.

There is no known cause and no proven treatment other than radiation therapy.

“I don’t know how he got brain cancer or how to cure it,” Dahl said. “I felt bad, and I wanted to help.”

Dora Ivkovich hopes to make a difference by raising money and awareness for Charlie. But ultimately, she knows there’s not much more she can do to help save his life.

“I learned (there are) people in need, and they need help,” she said. “But some problems can’t be solved.”

Still, the joy the play brought to the Waller’s left the family feeling thankful.

“It’s fabulous what they’re doing,” John Waller said. “We’re grateful to the kids who participated.”

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