You only have one more weekend to see the heart warming gem of David Osmundsen’s play Light Switch at the Open Space Arts microtheatre on Wilson. And you really should: now that about one in 36 children in the US is diagnosed with autism, neurodiversity is fast becoming a point of view, a way of perceiving and interpreting the world that is fascinating and increasingly common in every level of society, but underrepresented in drama. This play aims to shift that deficiency: Osmundsen tells this coming of age story about a gay man on the autism spectrum with heart and precision. One suspects the spot-on dialogues may be because some of the scenes are drawn from his own life as a person with autism.
The main character Henry is played by Phillip Andrew Monnett as the meticulous and hyper focused Henry who is getting his PhD in Victorian Literature at Columbia. The play hops back and forth from Henry’s childhood of being teased for being different, to his awkward teen and undergraduate years as he comes out as gay and tries to navigate relationships, then to his present where hook up culture and his love of Jane Austen sideline him in his search for love. His roommate for the last 7 years, Rogie, played by Henry DelBello, has become a gay sex advice vlogger. Rogie tries to sand the rough edges off Henry and help him fit in with a neurotypical world, much as his hardworking mom Miriam, played by Hilary Hensler,has tried since his childhood to lovingly help him understand a world which does not always appreciate his perspective. Peter Manuel Young and Dylan McCumber round out the cast of lovers and friends well directed by Michael D. Graham. This ensemble is marvelous in their portrayal of what life can be like in a world full of neurodiversity.
The play asks a fundamental question about how one is to navigate a world where neurodivergent people literally have a different operating system than the majority. Relating to other humans is hard even if everyone is on the same page, and we are all guilty of miscommunication. But how do you reconcile differences when the fundamental assumptions of each person are so radically different? The play is complex as it moves through this question. The play is evocative: you will find yourself loving and hating Henry too when his black and white world runs smack into the gray universe of real life and its unending inconsistencies. The play is moving, as audience comes to a compassionate understanding of what it is to not fit in.
The play is filled with elevated vocabulary and quotes and references to various literary sources and novels because the world that Henry creates for himself is one where the romance of the novel Wuthering Heights is the pinnacle of love. He cannot connect with anyone who has not read the book– but if you have and your ideas about it are different than his, woe to you. The play gives a realistic idea of the gifts and maddening aspects of navigating relationships with someone on the spectrum.
Immerse yourself in Henry’s world in Light Switch this coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday (it closes October 13) at Open Space Arts, 1411 West Wilson in Chicago. For tickets and information go to https://openspacearts.org/light-switch
For more reviews go to https://www.theatreinchicago.com
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