Play/Performance for the Minnesota folks

Hi, I received this info in an email message and I thought some of you might be interested.

What: VESTIBULAR SENSE, by Ken LaZebnik

When: November 3–26, 2006 (Wed–Sat at 7:30pm; Sun at 1pm)

Where: Alan Page Auditorium of Mixed Blood’s historic firehouse theatre,

1501 S. Fourth Street on the West Bank in Minneapolis

Tickets: – at (612) 338-6131 or www.mixedblood.com

(Minneapolis, MN) — The world of autism takes center stage in Mixed Blood Theatre’s world premiere production of Vestibular Sense, playing November 3–26 in the Alan Page Auditorium of the company’s historic firehouse theatre. The play is written by Ken LaZebnik, the co-screen storywriter for Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion movie and the playwright of League of Nations and Calvinisms, both previously produced by Mixed Blood. Jack Reuler is directing Vestibular Sense.

LaZebnik’s new creation looks into the world of Isaac, a high-functioning young man who lives independently with his aging grandmother and works overseeing a roller coaster at a Norse theme park. When Fourth of July hi-jinks at the workplace get out of hand, Isaac’s autism proves to be simultaneously an advantage and bane. The playwright, who has two family members with autism, has created Isaac as a three-dimensional young man, defined by many things, one of which is his autism.

“Ken’s deep first-hand understanding of autism makes this play unique and authentic,” says Reuler. “With both a comic and warm-hearted approach, this play illustrates the élan and challenges of people with autism and the friends, family, colleagues and teachers who surround them.”

Reuler commissioned the play after the company expanded its mission of promoting successful cultural pluralism to include people with disabilities. The title of LaZebnik’s show refers to the term that describes the body’s relationship with gravity and movement, which can be different for people with autism.

Brian Skellenger, Nate Krantz, and Aditi Kapil play Isaac, BJ, and Shey respectively, three characters spanning the autism spectrum. Karen Landry is Isaac’s grandmother; Lada Vishtak, Ansa Akyea, and Barzin Akhavan play co-workers in the theme park, and Raúl Ramos is the owner of the park.

In addition to his plays at Mixed Blood and his work with Garrison Keiller, LaZebnik re-wrote the book of Babes In Arms for the Guthrie Theater. He also has written and produced television programs as diverse as UPN’s Star Trek: Enterprise, NBC’s Providence and three special broadcasts of In Concert At The White House for PBS. He had a long run as a writer and producer on the popular CBS series Touched By An Angel. LaZebnik founded the baseball quarterly The Minneapolis Review of Baseball (now The Elysian Fields Quarterly) and has written on baseball for the New York Times, City Pages and Manhattan, inc. He also serves as Artistic Director of the Stephens College School of Performing Arts in Columbia, Missouri. LaZebnik lives in Los Angeles.

Vestibular Sense opens Friday, November 3, at 7:30 p.m. Performances are Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., and Sundays at 3:00 p.m. through November 26. Tickets range from –. All performances are in the Alan Page Auditorium of Mixed Blood’s historic firehouse theatre on the West Bank in Minneapolis. Tickets are available at (612) 338-6131 or online at www.mixedblood.com.

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Full performance schedule follows on next page.

VESTIBULAR SENSE Performance Schedule

Fri Nov 3 7:30pm

Sat Nov 4 7:30pm

Sun Nov 5 3:00pm

Wed Nov 8 7:30pm

Thu Nov 8 7:30pm

Fri Nov 10 * 7:30pm

Sat Nov 11 7:30pm

Sun Nov 12 3:00pm

Wed Nov 15 7:30pm

Thu Nov 16 7:30pm

Fri Nov 17 7:30pm

Sat Nov 18 7:30pm

Sun Nov 19 3:00pm

Wed Nov 22 7:30pm

Thu Nov 23 7:30pm

Fri Nov 24 7:30pm

Sat Nov 25 7:30pm

Sun Nov 26 3:00pm

* ASL, audio described, captioned

Tickets: (612) 338-6131 or www.mixedblood.com

Play/Performance for the Minnesota folks | Autism PDD