Amy Erbe, left, as Celeste, Suzanne Darrell as Stephanie and Carrie Hill as Barbara in Live Theatre Workshop's "Holy Spirit on Grand Avenue."

Chris Richards / arizona daily star

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Memories of a murder and a little girl frozen in time make up the core of Toni Press-Coffman's "Holy Spirit on Grand Avenue," which Live Theatre Workshop opens Saturday.

The "Holy Spirit" of the title is a Catholic school in the Bronx. The play revolves around three women on a reunion weekend — they had been third-grade classmates, said Glen Coffman, the show's director and playwright's husband.

"When they start talking about the old days, they end up focusing on Diana, an 8-year-old classmate who died in the third grade," said Coffman. "Actually, she was murdered, stabbed to death by her 16-year-old friend, Bobby."

The group of women consists of Stephanie, the only African-American at Holy Spirit, whose upscale Westchester home is the setting; Barbara, the class know-it-all who has become a successful West Coast doctor; and Celeste, the school's most popular girl, who is now a successful artist but an emotional wreck.

"They're more than doing justice to a very rich and nuanced text," said Coffman of his cast.

"The play doesn't lend itself to a neat little wrap-up, since it doesn't end in a tidy resolution of every question. But these actresses take us through a complex process of self-realization and reconnection, in which they realize the importance that friends have in anchoring them."

Press-Coffman, a prolific playwright whose work has been produced around the county, said the humor in "Holy Spirit" is an important aspect of the piece.

"Like all my work, it has dramatic content, but it has a sense of humor, too," she said.

"For me, humor is an indispensable part of coping with things, and this play is really about how friendship helps us to get through the things in life that are difficult to negotiate. As do faith and memory. I was in that school with this little girl, and remembering that she'll always be 8 — I'm now 57 — has made me ask myself each year what I'm doing with the gift of my life. That's the question 'Holy Spirit' is about: We may not have a clear answer to why we're here, but what are we going to do instead of fretting about that?"