© 2024
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
An update has been released for the Android version of the WAMC App that addresses performance issues. Please check the Google Play Store to download and update to the latest version.

“Andy and the Orphans” at Harbinger Theatre a play about the unenlightened past

Actors on set of "Andy and the Orphans"
Adam Wilson-Hwang
/
Albany’s Theatre Barn
Actors on set of "Andy and the Orphans"

Harbinger Theatre in Albany is offering the regional premiere of “Andy and the Orphans” at the Albany Barn through Saturday.

It’s rather remarkable work as playwright Lindsey Ferrentino has written a play that is filled with comic potential. At the same time it makes the audience understand the past negligence children with special need once suffered. That abuse was defined in the 1960s by scandals at state run institutions like the infamous Willowbrook on Staten Island, N.Y., where vile living conditions and harsh treatment ruined thousands of young lives.

Happily, the play accomplishes all this without adding a didactic tone to the work. And, perhaps, even more important, it forces you to be self-reflective and realize how much there is yet to do for groups of people who are limited by ignorance of others in their ability to make valuable contributions to society.

“Andy and the Orphans” is a play about an adult who was institutionalized by his parents as an infant because he was born with Down Syndrome. About 60 years later, when the father dies shortly after the mother, Andy’s older siblings, along with his primary caregiver, take him out of his group home for a road trip to his father’s memorial service.

There’s no doubt that at the start of the trip his brother and sister will fall in love with Andy. That expectation is filled, but what is learned by siblings, caregivers is not as predictable as you might think. Like life itself, the play is not about the final destination but what we learn on the journey.

The Harbinger production, under the direction of Patrick White, does capture the idea that compassion sometimes has to be learned. It casts its eye to an unenlightened time and makes the point that in many areas of nurturing those with special needs we still have a way to go.

Though the Harbinger production is seriously flawed and even marred by inexperienced actors, what saves the evening is the production of one of the least experience performers. Tom Mooney will win your heart as Andy. More important he will win your respect and admiration.

Ferrentino insists that Andy be played by an actor with Downs Syndrome as is Mooney. His courageous performance shows the wisdom of the playwright’s clause. The it’s a remarkable revelation that physically and emotionally the performance makes the point that with proper nurturing almost every one of society-defined boundaries can be overcome.

Patrick White’s direction is an example of that nurturing. Mooney’s performance is not only successful on an emotional level, it is clear the actor is representing himself on stage, yet he is also creating a character. Indeed, his final monologue that uses a fistful of movie clichés ending with the line from “On the Waterfront “I could have been something,” summarizes the entire play.

White’s nurturing is also clear with the rest of the cast, several of whom take his acting class. In some scenes, most of which come after the memorial for the father, he brings out the potential in several performers. But for most of the play it appears to be scene night as the actors let the character’s quirks identify their characters without defining them as people. This results in a choppy night of good moments, mixed with learning experience moments. Some obvious miscasting adds to the problems.

There are a few performers I hope to see again, Olivia Walton has confidence and charm and talent. Her scene partner Josh Jenkins who also as little stage experience, but his natural gifts help him to create a character we understand. However, neither is burdened with creating simultaneously both an oddball and a real person - as does the rest of the cast.

White’s direction falls in the same category of being at odds with itself. The imaginative scene using humans as an airport conveyer belt is clever. So clever you pay attention to it rather than listening to what the siblings are saying while waiting for their luggage. Was it important information we missed? I don’t know because I was admiring the cleverness of the staging. Which is the definition of unintentional but intrusive upstaging.

Such moments add to the fact that the on stage work is mostly at an acting class level. Unless you’re a theater snob like me, who demands insight and technique from a production, there are things to be gained from this production. Indeed, with “Andy and the Orphans” Harbinger Theatre is adding to their mission of bringing fresh and important plays to audiences . It is something that should be appreciated, As a P.S., their prices are dirt cheap.

“Andy and the Orphans” continues 7:30 p.m. at Albany’s Theatre Barn. Tickets can be had at the door and going to Eventbrite website.

Bob Goepfert is theater reviewer for the Troy Record.

The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.

Related Content