People don't always understand Piper. A character in the play Life on the Moon, Piper, who is autistic, doesn't use verbal language in a direct manner. Instead, she borrows phrases from movies, including Peter Pan and A Farewell to Arms. As she interacts with her stage family, they struggle to find the oblique angles that link her cinematic dialogue to her underlying messages.
On stage, Piper is brought to life by actor Genevieve Gay, 20, who, like the character, is autistic.
Speaking by phone about the role, Gay said, "I could not pass it up." She heard about the play from a theater colleague and immediately knew she wanted to audition. She hopes audiences see an authentic and understanding portrayal, she said.
The production opens Dec. 8 at ReAct Studios in SoDo. Tickets are free, but donations are accepted.
When someone without autism portrays an autistic character, Gay said, they often get the details wrong. She's seen some dismal examples.
"I have different needs [than Piper], and our diagnoses are different. But I 100% understand [Piper's] point of view," Gay said.
The play was written by Anna Tatelman, who calls it a cross between the movie Rain Man and the classic Tennessee Williams play The Glass Menagerie. The show is directed by Jeremy Radick, who is also a romantic partner of Tatelman, and produced by the Baker Theater Workshop of West Seattle.
For the playwright, it has been a long journey to get this on stage in Seattle. She wrote the play more than 12 years ago, while at New York University, drawing on her own experiences with an autistic brother. The play is set during Christmastime, when Piper's brother, Spencer, played by Adam Nyhoff, returns from military duty to see his family. The script won the 2017 Inkslinger Playwriting Competition and the Triad Shakes Theatre's New Play Contest.
While the play has been performed in Detroit and elsewhere, its Seattle debut feels "huge" to Tatelman.
"We don't live in an environment that's very friendly to new plays and emerging playwrights," Tatelman said. "A lot of theaters don't feel they're able to take these risks on new playwrights." Producing new plays and increasing diversity in theatrical productions are both goals of Baker Theater Workshop.
In embodying Piper, Gay — who has a slight frame, light-brown hair, and glasses — uses some of her own experience, and observations of others, to develop the young woman's physical mannerisms. These include moving her arms or body repeatedly as a form of self-stimulation called "stimming." For some people, repetitive motions can relieve stress.
The two-hour play dives deeply into the family's efforts to support Piper, and the ways that Spencer has gone without some of his parent's attention, including that of his mother Helen, portrayed by Elizabeth Dilley.
"It's important to me not just on a sociopolitical level, but on a personal level, to increase the voices of people who are more highly impacted by autism, as well as to increase the representation of voices who are sibs," Tatelman said, referring to siblings. Siblings often complain there are fewer resources for them because their family may be overwhelmed with caregiving.
During the run, some members of an active sib community, including a leader named Don Meyer, are planning to attend. Tatelman feels the Sib Support Project helped her become more aware of advocating for sibs.
On the night the Emerald visited the theater, three actors rehearsed an emotional confrontation, memorizing gestures that had to convince an audience but be safe for the actors. Radick gave notes about what worked and what didn't, and Gay had to pass in and out of character quickly. But she was up to the challenge.
"I love theater," Gay said. She has been a frequent actor in The Village Theatre's program known as KIDSTAGE. She will age out of it soon, but she's applying to several performing arts colleges. She feels that theater gave her a sense of belonging when school felt socially isolating.
Tatelman is delighted to have Piper portrayed by someone with direct experience of autism. This didn't happen in other performances of the play.
"We got incredibly lucky with [Gay] to find someone who is not only immensely talented and versatile as a performer, but doesn't have a problem depicting someone who is more high-needs than her," Tatelman said.
At one point in the play, Piper is by herself while Spencer and his father, portrayed by Sean Vale, decorate a Christmas tree. Piper seems to be watching a small television, but interrupts her family's conversation in a way that shows she is closely following their actions.
"She is smart," Gay explained about Piper. "She is smarter than the other characters," she said, adding that "she may do things differently, but that doesn't mean she doesn't know what is happening."
"Life on the Moon" is playing at the ReAct Theatre, 562 1st Ave. S., #400, on multiple dates throughout December. Tickets are free, but donations are welcome.
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