LAS CRUCES — "Imagine that every time you open a book, letters play tricks on you. They flip, they reverse, they jump upside down. Every sentence you read takes so much effort — so much energy — because the letters don't behave. By the time you reach the end of the sentence, you've lost its meaning. You're embarrassed and feel stupid."
That's the dyslexia dilemma faced by two teens in "hard 2 spel dad," a moving drama by Linda Daugherty and Mary Rohde Scudday that opens today for a brief, three-performance run at New Mexico State University's Hershel Zohn Theatre.
Pamela, 13, "still grieving and angry over the heroic death of her fireman father," and hoping for a "fresh start when she and her mother move to a new town to help care for her grandfather," meets a new friend she suspects also has dyslexia, according to a synopsis at www.dramaticpublishing.com.
Pamela, portrayed by Rachel Evans, meets a new skateboarding friend Zak, 15, (portayed by Josh Padilla), who is "still stuck in middle school. The two young people struggle to read their class assignment, 'Romeo and Juliet,' but when, after watching the modern DVD version, Zak passionately retells the entire story, Pamela concocts a scheme she is convinced will show how smart Zak is. When this backfires, Zak, humiliated and angry, seeks solace in prescription drugs and alcohol with near-tragic results."
The one-hour play ends on a note of hope after exploring the arduous journeys of those
who "learn differently," and the crucial factors of understanding and help.
Ruth Cantrell is director for "hard 2 spell dad," which was first performed at the Dallas Children's Theater.
Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. today and 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $6 for adults and $5 for students. For information, contact (575) 646-4515, theatre.nmsu.edu/astc/.
Source:
No comments:
Post a Comment