New Play Featuring a Deaf Heroine
DATE: July 26 – August 12, 2007
TIME: 7:30 pm
ADDRESS:
3603 Ross Avenue
Dallas, Texas
http://www.xrisktheinitiative.com
All of the Above by Tom Sime presented by Risk Theatre!
Performances are Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm, and Sundays at 2:00pm. (except the 22nd. —no performance)
Individual tickets are $20 at 214-223-7483 or at www.risktheinitiative.com. Preview is $15, as are tickets for members of Dallas Theatre League, KERA, students and seniors).
The Script: Setting: an alternate, scrambled version of the present-day world
Deaf, mute and blind from birth, worldly philanthropist Helene (Shannon Kearns-Simmons) has dedicated her life to the founding and operation of a foundation dedicated to helping victims of atrocity and disaster. She communicates through a self-invented finger spelled language via Charlotte (Susan Sargeant), her longtime assistant and Helene’s sole means of communication with the world.
Helene’s latest project is Edward (Mike Schraeder), a jewel thief whose hands have just been amputated as punishment for his crimes. She rescues him from from the dual terror of abandonment by his mother, Eleanor (Scott Milligan) and a hopeless fate orchestrated by an unknown governmental “Other”, at whose hands Edward has lost his…well…hands, and brings him to the safety of her home. Through the foundation, Edward becomes the recipient of a transplant. Due to the shortage of acceptable “donors”, the hands are black and once belonged to a now-dead religious figure, who was a former paramour of Helene’s. Strangely, Edward begins to transmit broken, intermittent “messages” from an unknown source, presumably through the new hands. Charlotte believes the messages to be from God, and envisions an existence of peace achievable only through death. Edward fears the messages to be from “Mr. Hands”, the former owner of the hands.
Under Helene’s caring supervision, Edward begins the recuperation process and slowly gains dexterity with his new appendages. Primarily speaking through Charlotte, Helene and Edward fall in love, provoking an intense power struggle between Edward and Charlotte.
The tension between them escalates. Edward and Charlotte use a sexual encounter as the battleground for their ultimate “duel”, only to be discovered by Helene, who finally makes the choice to send Charlotte away and attempt to rebuild her relationship with Edward.
Edward’s aptitude for Helene’s language is lacking, however, and Helene soon finds herself longing for the vibrancy of her conversations with Charlotte. After a year, Edward is charged with tracking Charlotte down and convincing her to return. Out of love for Helene, he reluctantly agrees.
Charlotte has moved on with her life, however, and is the successful yet hunted author of a book extolling the virtues of dying as a means of achieving the aforementioned peace and union with God. She has gained the devotion of a flamboyantly effervescent literary agent, Gaston (Scott Milligan), but the enmity of legions of the loved ones of devotees of her book who have committed both suicide and homicide. Because the calculated attacks and the death threats aimed towards Charlotte are escalating in number, she agrees to return to Helene’s for a simultaneous sabbatical and hideout.
Helene has meanwhile been closing in on achieving a lifelong ambition: inventing a means to transcend the limitations of her disabilities and eliminate her reliance on a translator. Shortly after Charlotte’s return, she reveals the vessel for her invention: a seemingly simple pair of sunglasses. She urges Edward to try them on. As soon as he does, the three are visited with a powerful, full-on possession of Helene by God. They are invited to ask questions, and are subsequently set straight about God’s love for us (all of us) and the perception of religion, peace, and power in the higher realm of things.
The excitement generated by the results of this invention is palpable. Amid the joy, Then Edward’s mother Eleanor arrives unexpectedly for a shocker ending.
Lisa Taylor
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 214-943-1099
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