Stream this play about autism and romance, live!
by Beth
I just read a post on the LA Times Culture Monster blog about a new play about two young people with autism. “On the Spectrum” was written by veteran Los Angeles screenwriter Ken LaZebnik, who co-wrote the 2006 film, “Prairie Home Companion,” with Garrison Keillor.
The post describes the play as a story about the love -– and friction –- between a young man who tries to disguise the fact he has Asperger’s syndrome and a young woman who is proud of her autism. The playwright says that having nephews and a niece with varying degrees of autism sparked his interest in writing the play. It was also LaZebnik’s idea to cast an actress who has autism as the female lead. From the blog post:
The playwright said he had sent his script to Laura Robinson, who is autistic and recently earned a degree in animation from Loyola Marymount University, “just to get her response and make sure it seemed authentic.” She was enthusiastic, and it occurred to LaZebnik that Robinson might be able to play the part. She read for [artistic director] Reuler in June, “and he cast her on the spot.”
The play opens tomorrow night at Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis and will be accessible worldwide to anyone with a computer, streamed in live video over the Internet. The blog post quotes LaZebnik saying that multiple cameras will be used for the Internet broadcast “to avoid the stasis of a single viewpoint and, he hopes, provide close-ups.” I’m tuning in!