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The Jim Eisenreich Foundation for Children with Tourette Syndrome partnered with
playwright Laurie Brooks and the award winning Coterie Theatre to commission the
play Atypical Boy.
Expressive characters and shape-shifting puppets tell an entertaining fable for all times and all ages about the beauty and danger of being different in a world where conformity is valued and individuality is feared.
As with most of Brooks' plays, a free post performance workshop was built into the running time of each performance to actively involve the audience in exploring the play's issues.
As with any good story, Atypical Boy has many ideas. It is about loneliness and the struggle of life, the power of words and the power of society. But mostly the play is about what happens when someone is shunned and doesn't "fit in". From the playwright: "There's the big fear that we have of difference - it's not something we talk about or admit; but if we can control the thing we're afraid of - if we can 'fix it', then it gives us some modicum of control. So what we can't understand or categorize we push away - we stay in our comfort zone." In the play "conformity is compulsory". Society feels that if they can control Boy ("fix him") their world will remain perfect.
The Coterie provides powerful live theatre with the highest quality production values and the Jim Eisenreich Foundation is thankful for their collaboration on the world premiere of this intriguing play.
Expressive characters and shape-shifting puppets tell an entertaining fable for all times and all ages about the beauty and danger of being different in a world where conformity is valued and individuality is feared.
As with most of Brooks' plays, a free post performance workshop was built into the running time of each performance to actively involve the audience in exploring the play's issues.
As with any good story, Atypical Boy has many ideas. It is about loneliness and the struggle of life, the power of words and the power of society. But mostly the play is about what happens when someone is shunned and doesn't "fit in". From the playwright: "There's the big fear that we have of difference - it's not something we talk about or admit; but if we can control the thing we're afraid of - if we can 'fix it', then it gives us some modicum of control. So what we can't understand or categorize we push away - we stay in our comfort zone." In the play "conformity is compulsory". Society feels that if they can control Boy ("fix him") their world will remain perfect.
The Coterie provides powerful live theatre with the highest quality production values and the Jim Eisenreich Foundation is thankful for their collaboration on the world premiere of this intriguing play.
View the Atypical Boy Resource Guide
Contact Laurie Brooks about Atypical Boy
Contact Laurie Brooks about Atypical Boy