Grove-LCD RGB Backlight/Lotus Cortex-M0+ Incompatible?

Unable to get LCD RGB Backlight to work with Lotus Cortex-M0+. Other sample programs operate on the Lotus Cortex-M0+, but I need a display. “Hello World” doesn’t work. There is no life at 3.3V. I tried adding the base shield and then setting it to 5V - still doesn’t work, though I see the upper row of LCD characters show up as blocks. I selected the Lotus Cortex-M0+ because it claimed to be compatible. Doesn’t seem so. Looked for projects using these 2 parts, but didn’t find any. Was I sold a starter kit that is not compatible with Lotus Cortex-M0+? Any suggestions would be much appreciated.