Ever Montgomery is a professor at the New York Institute of Technology. He lives one floor above Senga Quinn, an accomplished Broadway dancer who finds her career in jeopardy due to an encounter with a New York taxi.
He’s abrupt and socially awkward.
She’s depressed, bordering on despondent.
She’s in no mood to deal with her pushy neighbor … until he makes a rather surprising admission in the living room of her Upper Westside apartment, in Theatre Conspiracy's production at Off Broadway Palm.
Ever: “I have a form of autism called Asperger’s, but the American Psychiatric Association decided it didn’t exist anymore, so they eliminated the classification,” Ever tells Senga. “They say it’s elitist and want to call us all autistic, but we never voted, so I still say I have Asperger’s. I’m a rebel that way.”
Senga: “You’re autistic?”
Ever: “Yes. You sound surprised.”
Not surprised … as much as curious.
“She is kind of an abrasive person herself, but once she realizes he has autism, it really switches on that curiosity that drives the rest of the play and allows her to see him in a different light,” notes Chloe Elliott-Chan, who plays Senga.
Curiosity is a refreshing reaction.
In Ever’s experience, most people prejudge.
Many people have heard or believe things about autism that aren't true. So Ever, played by Steven Coe, clarifies what that means.
“‘Illnesses can be cured. I’m not sick. I’m an anomaly, but I’m not alone,’ he tells her,” said Coe. “He finds value in community with like-minded people, but he does put himself out there and tries to be as courageous as possible throughout his life and to be high-functioning and be out in the world.”
Like taking dance lessons in preparation for an awards ceremony he has to attend because it’s in his honor. Ever wants to fit in, to be just like … neurotypical people.
One scene, in particular, underscores just how determined Ever is to fit in. In it, Ever imitates images displayed on his laptop of people expressing basic human emotions such as sadness, fear and joy.
To portray the challenges faced by those on the autism spectrum, Coe not only did his research, he also relied on personal experience.
“Growing up, I actually had several friends that actually did have Asperger’s and I have some experience with it,” Coe said.
Coe knew from these childhood experiences that no two people on the spectrum are alike.
In fact, Ever makes that very point in the play.
“Every person with Asperger’s, every person with autism, they are all different,” Coe emphasized. “So, it’s not like there was, ah yes, here’s a checklist, do this, this, this, this and then you’re going to be [portraying] Asperger’s. It was a long history of observation.”
While there may be no checklist, lack of eye contact is very common. But that presents problems in a theatrical setting, said Coe.
“It’s a very interesting challenge because so much of what we perceive to be good acting is making eye contact and listening to your partner and facing towards them and being within their energy,” he said.
Ever is also touch averse. That seems to present an insurmountable obstacle when it comes to learning to dance.
To overcome that impediment Senga must first earn Ever’s trust. Once she does, she organically devises simple steps to induce Ever to accept physical contact.
“They get to identify with each other a bit and she sort of is enjoying the teaching aspect and just the curiosity of getting to know someone else after being so absorbed with your own depression,” explained Elliott-Chan.
Through this process, Senga and, derivatively, the audience, discover what Easterseals wants us all to know.
“Every 1 with Autism belongs,” they say.
Everyone with autism deserves to be truly seen, accepted and celebrated for who they are.
That’s the heart of belonging.
“And that's one of the things I truly love about the show, is that it's really a beautiful story about human connection,” said Coe. “And so with that, there is definitely a bit of a metaphor there about the fear of what could happen when you put yourself out there, and wanting and craving human touch and connection, but not being able to give yourself over to it.”
“You might feel like a misfit, but you have more in common than you think once you listen,” Elliott-Chan added.
“Dancing Lessons” runs through Aug. 2 in the Off Broadway Palm in Fort Myers.
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With “Dancing Lessons,” playwright Mark St. Germain manages to craft a compelling story of social connection between two vastly different people without the play sounding like a lecture or an Easterseals PSA. It entertains and enlightens at the same time.
In the play, Senga Quinn is a Broadway dancer who has performed with various dance companies around the country. She has suffered major leg injuries in an accident. It’s unlikely she’ll ever dance again because she cannot have surgery due to her life-threatening allergy to anesthesia. At the beginning of the play, she’s depressed, bordering on despondent. If she can never again do what she loves, she would rather be dead.
Ever Montgomery is neither injured nor ill. He has Asperger’s Syndrome, a “pervasive developmental disorder on the high end of the autism spectrum that is characterized by an inability to understand how to interact socially,” according to medicinenet.com. In Ever’s case, he is ignorant of social cues and conventions. But he’s committed to learning how to recognize them in order to fit in with neurotypical people.
Themes
"Dancing Lessons" transcends the subject of autism and Asperger’s to focus on two people who work past their differences and Senga’s cynicism in order to find commonality, connection and trust. They do that by opening channels of open and honest communication.
As Ever and Senga interact more, they come to realize they have more in common than they thought. This is the play’s broader theme. If we’d only be more open to understanding others, we’d be better able to connect with them, positively impacting them and ourselves in the process.
Easterseals Autism Campaign
Although not intended, the play coincides with Easterseals’ current “Every 1 with Autism Belongs” campaign. In sum, the campaign’s goal is to teach the truth about autism, stop the myths, and help everyone feel like they belong.
Sharing real stories, along with facts and information backed by research, helps people see that everyone with autism is different. That, in turn, builds bridges towards more kindness and understanding. It helps to realize that autism is not a processing error. It's a different operating system.
The importance of dance
There is actually very little dancing in “Dance Lessons.”
That’s because the show focuses on social connection and the premise that if we look hard enough, the world is full of people who can have the most profound impact on us — no matter how different they may seem at first blush.
Yet, the importance of movement as an adaptive therapy for people on the autism spectrum lies at the heart of what transpires onstage.
Most social skills interventions for autism are cognitive – learning scripts, practicing conversations, using a laptop to identify emotions displayed through the facial expressions and body language of neurotypical people.
Dance works differently.
Research and field studies suggest that matching another person’s rhythm — mirroring their movements — enables autistic children and adults to increase their feelings of affiliation and connection. So, although the play doesn’t dwell on the dancing lessons Senga gives Ever, her implicit dance therapy opens Ever up to genuine social connection which, in the play, is ultimately symbolized by his receptivity to physical touch.
Human extinction subtheme
At various points during the play, the action moves into Ever’s classroom, where he lectures students on the subjects of global warming, sea level rise and the extinction of 20 percent of all species by the year 2075.
Several theater critics have denigrated these scenes, but Coe finds the juxtaposition interesting for a variety of reasons.
“There’s definitely a metaphor in there about human connection, just in the same way that the monoculture has kind of died,” said Coe. “We're all atomizing into our own little pools of influence in the social media age. There is that theme, definitely, of if we lose our communities, we don't connect with human beings, we lose a bit of our humanity because that's something endemic to the human condition. We've always been social creatures. We hunted and gathered in packs. We always told stories around the fire, and we always danced. If we lose that, we lose that human connection. We lose something in our humanity.”
About the playwright
Mark St. Germain has written the plays “Camping with Henry and Tom” (Outer Critics Circle Award and Lucille Lortel Award), “Out of Gas on Lover's Leap” and “Forgiving Typhoid Mary” (Time Magazine’s “Year’s Ten Best”), and “Ears on a Beatle” and “God Committee,” all published by Samuel French and Dramatist Play Service.
With Randy Courts, he has written the musicals “The Gifts of the Magi,” “Johnny Pye and the Foolkiller,” winner of an AT&T “New Plays For the Nineties Award” and “Jack's Holiday” at Playwrights Horizons.
His musical, “Stand By Your Man, The Tammy Wynette Story” was created for Nashville’s Ryman Theater.
Television credits include writer and creative consultant for “The Cosby Show.” He co-wrote the screenplay for Carroll Ballard’s Warner Brothers film, “Duma.” He directed and co-produced the documentary, “My Dog, An Unconditional Love Story” featuring Richard Gere, Glenn Close and Edward Albee.
St. Germain has also written the children’s book, “Three Cups.” (www.3cupsbook.com.)
He is an alumnus of New Dramatists, where he was given the Joe A. Callaway Award, a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Writer’s Guild East and a board member of the Barrington Stage Company. He was awarded the “New Voices In American Theatre” award at the William Inge Theatre Festival.
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.
