For the past several years, Unlabeled Theatre Company has been bringing us productions of musicals with a unique model they call "shadow partner." Each character is played by an actor with a disability or who is neurodivergent, AND a neurotypical actor. The two actors speak and sing in unison, which provides disabled people the opportunity to perform in musicals that they might not otherwise be able to, with the support of a partner. The result is something really sweet and special, and the most inclusive and welcoming kind of theater I've seen. But for the first time, they're breaking with that model and bringing us a US premiere new play that tells the story of a young woman with Down syndrome, performed by an actor with Down syndrome. It's the first time they're specifically telling a story about disabled people, and who better to do it? As director Jessica Froehlich notes in the program, "artists in the Disability Community have the right to tell their own stories." It's unfortunately a rare thing in theater, although we did get Full Circle Theater's beautiful production of
Martyna Majok's Pulitzer Prize winning play Cost of Living last year, featuring two disabled characters. But Unlabeled's
Jellyfish is a rare look at a story about Down syndrome that, like
my favorite TV show as a teenager, Life Goes On, treats them like the regular humans that they are, experiencing the full range of emotion.
Jellyfish continues at Gremlin
Theatre through November 8 only.
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Kelly (Maeve Linkert) and Agnes (Shanan Custer)
(photo by Jordan Buckellew) |
Much of the play takes place on the beach in the English coastal town of Skegness, where Agnes and her daughter Kelly like to walk and look at things that wash up on the beach (hence the title). When Agnes finds out that Kelly is dating Neil, whom she met at the arcade, she is upset because she thinks that he must be trying to take advantage of Kelly, who has Down syndrome. But Kelly insists that she's in love, and like a typical young person, thinks her mother is being overprotective. Which she is, but with good reason. Agnes feels like all her life she's had to protect her disabled daughter from a world that is often unkind to disabled people. The dilemma of every parent is when do you stop protecting your child, and let them go off into the world and figure things out themselves, probably even more difficult with a disabled child, but still a necessary step in development. There's a constant push-and-pull between Anges and Kelly, and Neil, whom Anges reluctantly comes to accept. After trying to set her up with Dominic, who she thinks is a better match because he is on the autism spectrum. He eventually becomes a friend to the family and helps them navigate the situation they find themselves in.
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Kelly (Maeve Linkert) and Neil (Joey Deegan)
(photo by Jordan Buckellew) |
Jessica Froehlich directs this piece, as she has Unabeled's musical productions. It's funny and sweet, but not treacly (it's British, there is some charmingly salty language). She notes in the program that playwright Ben Weatherill requires theater companies to cast an actor with Down syndrome to play Kelly, but has no requirements for Dominic. But because this is Unlabeled, that casting is authentic too. Maeve Linkert plays Kelly with vulnerability and heart, and has a shadow partner who is this time literally in the shadows. Lisa Hanson sits on the edge of the stage and speaks Kelly's lines simultaneously, offering the support that the shadow partner model does in their musicals. Mason Green is dryly funny as Dominic, with a sweet friendship developing between the two. Joey Deegan is believably earnest as Neil, who truly does love Kelly despite the challenges their life will have. Last but not least, Shanan Custer is funny and real as Agnes, believably portraying a mother who is trying to do what it best for her daughter, even if she might be mistaken in what that is.
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Dominic (Mason Green) and Agnes (Shanan Custer)
(photo by Jordan Buckellew) |
The simple set transforms from the beach to various homes or other locations with a few set pieces - blanket and beach tote, a couple of chairs, a bench. Scene transitions are accompanied by mood music, and the lighting subtly changes between locations. The story unfolds over a full calendar year, with the realistic costumes changing from shorts and t-shirts, to warmer winter wear, and back again. (Technical direction and sound design by Josh Barnd, original musical by Max Froehligh, lighting design by Shannon Elliot).
One of the best things theater can do is give us a glimpse inside the life of people we think are different from us, creating empathy, and showing us we're really not all that different. The dramedy Jellyfish does that beautifully.
