This is our second installment hearing from the creatives behind THE BUTTERFLY’S EVIL SPELL (ICYM the first).

ALEXANDER JONES: Choreographer

Blogsite: Is there a quote from the show standing out to you now as we head into previews? 

From “Every Song”:
“EVERY BLOOM THAT’S EVER FED IS A MEMORY OF SEED. EVERY SONG THAT’S EVER SUNG IS A MEMORY OF LOVE.”

Blogsite: what does this show mean for you right now as a human?

This show found me at just the right moment —right when I’ve been turning inward again, rediscovering all my layers, all my edges. As the world shifts around me, I’m asking big questions about where I stand, who I am becoming. I see myself in Curio — restless, reflective, reaching. He too is caught in the in-between, yearning for something beyond what he’s been given. There’s magic in that mirror.

SPENCER MEYERS: Puppets

There are a lot of great quotes from the show but it’s all about Curio’s final speech that hits me hard:

Have you no heart?
Did the light from my words not burn your flesh? Who else can I turn to?
Oh enchanted poppy!
Why, if the fresh water can have shadow in the summer, And the night’s fog disappear under the eyes of the stars, Why can my soul not have love?

Who gave me these eyes I don’t want,
And these hands that try to spark an incomprehensible love. It ends with my life!
Who’s losing me in this shadow?

I hope that audiences enjoy this world we created and find joy in these characters. Each character is full of life and love.

The journey of Curio and Doña is something that I connect to being raised by my mother. Their interactions mimic some from my own childhood.

Curio I relate to the most. I am the dreamer creative that loves with all my heart and being.

KATHRYN HUETTEL: Silvia/Doña Orgullo/Guard Beetle/Young Worm

It’s Butterfly’s line, “A grain of sand speaks.”

I’m excited for audiences to experience devised theater (editor: a collaborative process where theatre practitioners, including actors, designers, and more, create a play or performance from scratch rather than using a pre-written script). Theater isn’t one type of art, there’s lots of styles in the theater genre!

And for what the show means to me, I’m still finding that to be honest, but what I can say now is that the symbolism of the “insects” might be symbolic for people who feel looked down upon and misunderstood — it’s story of understanding the misunderstood. 

KATRINA STEVENSON: Butterfly/Additional Puppets/Costumes

“I spun my heart over my flesh.

To be able to pray in the darkness

Death gave me a pair of white wings …”

A butterfly’s life is all about the moment of metamorphosis. Many insects undergo a change of form in their lifespan, but the butterfly has the most dramatic transformation. To me, Lorca’s butterfly personifies the change we go through when confronted with love. It can be romantic love, spiritual love, a love of new knowledge … Love transforms us, we transcend to a deeper existence. And we can never go back. There is a kind of death that happens when our very identity or purpose is questioned and transformed. Literal death and figurative death are frightening, but beauty and freedom lay beyond.

The devised nature of The Butterfly’s Evil Spell is when my artist soul is most complete. The creation of a story through non-traditional means (dance, music, poetry, visual art) transcends the original narrative of the script. All of these elements hook the spirit and creativity of the creators as well as the audience. By removing predictable, realistic, means of storytelling, there is an instability and unknown that allows the imagination to flourish.

WILLIAM ALEJANDRO BARBA: Alacráncito

“I pray that my eyes go blind, before I see your petals fall.” 

THE BUTTERFLY’S EVIL SPELL is on stage through June 1, 2025, at the Straz Center.