March 28, 2005

Play Scores Point for Imagination

by ANDREA WILEY

What if when you met somebody you didn’t see gender, race or even age? What if you didn’t judge, making that person feel anxious, nervous, lonely or scared? What if you could see his or her spirit? What if they could see yours?

Imagination, One, performed by Our Own Voice Theatre Troupe, challenges the audience to answer such questions. The play compares children with imaginary friends to adults who have schizophrenia. It raises awareness about the disease in hopes to diminish the stigmas surrounding schizophrenics. Performances were held at TheatreWorks on February 11 – 13 and 18 – 20, 2005.

Our Own Voice Theatre Troupe (OOV) is a theatre company whose mission is to explore issues that affect the psychological and social well-being of everyone while empowering the mentally ill and engaging the community in dialogue about mental health.

Lynne, the lead adult role in Imagination, One, is played by Elizabeth Anne Webb. Her character is diagnosed with schizophrenia in the play. Webb feels that her responsibility is to accurately tell the story of those who have had a similar diagnosis without shame. She wants to give a voice to those with mental illness, those who love someone with a mental illness and those who professionally deal with sufferers of mental illness.

“It is important to me that this play sparks conversations among the audience members so that they can relate to those they may see as different,” said Webb. Morgan Stewart, 14 [note: Stewart is currently 15], plays the lead child role of Grace. She enjoys Imagination, One because it is a lot of fun.

“It’s not as dark and emotional and scary as some of the other plays we’ve done,” says Morgan. “I really hope the audience will understand what schizophrenia really is and relate to imaginary friends.”

Morgan first appeared in an OOV production at just 10 years old. Over the past 5 years she has been in the cast of about 15 different shows. Alan Stewart, Morgan’s dad, plays Grace’s very animated imaginary friend Iggy in Imagination, One.

Stewart met Kimberly and Bill Baker, troupe founder, through mutual friends. In the spring of 2000 Kimberly encouraged the Stewart family to get involved in the multi-generational OOV piece Common Ground.

“My daughter Morgan and I both joined the cast of that show and we've never looked back!” said Stewart. “One of us has been creatively involved in every production since then.”

Our Own Voice Theatre Troupe was founded in 1991 by Bill Baker for the Mid-South Mental Health Association (MMHA). The idea was to empower those with mental illness through improvisational theatre. It was originally created as an outlet for mental health consumers (those who consume services from mental health facilities) to express concerns about the stigmas surrounding mental illness. In 1995, the troupe became independent from the MMHA and became a resident theatre company at TheatreWorks located at 2085 Monroe in Overton Square. In 1997, OOV became a nonprofit corporation.

Today the troupe is no longer limited to only mental health issues. Nor do all the performers and participants have a mental illness. The productions vary, exploring different topics to give everyone a voice.

Baker, OOV founder, says that overall the troupe is about “rejecting labels. OOV has given a voice to those with mental illness and also those with different perspectives on the world through outreach in the community.”

Imagination, One does focus on a mental illness, but audience members can relate to the characters on many different levels. Everyone has been alienated by the meanies on the playground. Everyone has experienced stress in unhealthy doses. Everyone has felt lonely or lost. Everyone has wanted to use their imagination to escape these situations.

Imagination, One tears down the curtain separating the audience from the cast by inviting the audience into the show. The audience sits on stage while the acting is going on all around them. This puts the audience on the same level as the performers in more ways than one.

The show has already begun when the audience is invited into the theater. When they take their seats on stage they are immediately in the midst of the play. Throughout the show, the audience is talked to directly by some of the actors and told to imagine certain things about the characters. During the finale, after each individual cast member is introduced to the beat of his or her preferred song, the audience is invited to stand up, right where they are and dance with the entire cast.

“This play represents my belief that people could understand each other much better if they would just let their imaginations do the work. This play scores a point for imagination... Imagination, One,” director Sarah Rushakoff writes in the program.

Rushakoff made her directing and writing debut in Imagination, One. She has been involved with OOV since January of 2000 and has played many roles over the past five years. Rushakoff believes that OOV is constantly introducing something new to the Memphis theatre community.

“Memphis theatre lacks the fearlessness that leads to innovation,” she said. “‘Safe’ theatre asks no new questions and has no new problems to solve. OOV gives audiences something different. Sometimes it is something light and fun... sometimes it’s something hard to swallow, that people would rather not think about. It’s about confronting the issues that make people uncomfortable – uncomfortable, perhaps, because they are unfamiliar.”

OOV’s original productions are not completely written until after auditions. Often the characters and plot lines are formed based on the content of the improvisations done by the auditioning actors, particular issues individuals currently faced, and the personalities of the cast. Everyone who auditions gets a part even if it means writing a new character into the script. No one is ever turned away.

Linley Schmidt has been performing with OOV for three years. Schmidt’s son and daughter joined her on stage for the first time in Imagination, One. Alden Schmidt, 6, the youngest of the show’s performers, and Grayson Akridge, 10, don’t seem to be the least bit intimidated by the spotlight.

“It is a great group for them to be in because we accept anybody and everybody for exactly who they are,” says their mother.

Andy Diggs, stage manager and assistant director, explained how the group embraces the spirit of humanity and individuality and is truly a safe haven for acceptance. To him, the troupe presents an environment free of judgment, leading to freedom of inhibitions.

“There is nothing else like it in the world,” said Diggs. “Perfection is not what the show is all about. It is about working through issues and forming relationships. What happens on the journey to the final performance is more important than anything.”

For more information about Our Own Voice Theatre Troupe, auditions and show times, visit www.ourownvoice.org or call 901-274-1000. To learn more about TheatreWorks and other Memphis theaters visit www.memphisartscouncil.org.