All of Me is a rom-com in which the central couple are wheelchair users and unable to speak; they use text-to-speech technology. The New Group‘s production, which opened last night at Pershing Square Signature Center, is directed with loving care by Ashley Brooke Monroe.
Rarely do we see actors perform under such restrictive circumstances. How do they communicate? As we discover, they communicate very well indeed. For those of us who might not have a direct experience with disabled people, the normalization of these challenges packs quite a consciousness raising punch.
Madison Ferris and Danny J Gomez
It was startling, for this reviewer, to hear romantic banter presented in flat computer-generated monotonous voices. At first, it’s funny in an “is it okay to laugh?” way, then it’s surprisingly natural, and then it’s just Lucy (Madison Ferris) and Alfonso (Danny J. Gomez) falling in love. When Alfonso suggests that Lucy could do stand-up comedy (which is funny ’cause she can’t stand up), Lucy’s response, “I have the dead pan delivery down flat,” is delightful. Playwright Laura Winters‘ gift for dialogue and characterization guides us to a fuller appreciation of these seemingly limited individuals until they don’t seem limited at all. Just different, but nevertheless complete.
Madison Ferris and Kyra Sedgwick
Ferris, an actress with muscular dystrophy, has been seen on Broadway as Laura in The Glass Menagerie starring with Sally Fields as Amanda Wingfield. Working within obvious limitations, she brings to the character of Lucy a striking, passionate physicality. Every gesture, every twist of her mouth (and her expressions are limited), every flicker of her hand or tilt of her head, evinces passionate love and complex emotion. Her love affair with Alfonso develops in fine rom-com fashion from bickering to fiercely independent to a maturing and generous love. Her carefully delineated relationships with her mother, Connie (an extraordinary Kyra Sedgwick) and her sister, Jackie (played with empathetic insight by Lily Mae Harrington) are crystal clear. As Jackie’s goofy, unproductive, but oddly lovable fiancé Moose, Brian Furey Morabio is a charmer.
Madison Ferris and Brian Furey Morabio
Alfonso and Lucy, in spite of their common disabilities — both using mobility aids and without the ability to speak — experience the attraction of opposites. Lucy is depressed, somewhat withdrawn, stuck in neutral and unable to envision a meaningful future. She is full of anger and resentment that her budding career as a jazz singer has been cut short, and is especially bitter that her less-talented and less-dedicated younger sister Jackie is now taking the musical limelight. Alfonso is financially privileged, an only child doted upon by his elegant mother Elena (Florencia Lozano), with a professional job and a promising future, and an interest in community volunteerism. He is appalled at Lucy’s anger and depression, but irresistibly attracted.
Danny J Gomez and Florencia Lozano
There are many interesting complications played out in the relationship between the lovers and their respective mothers Connie (Lucy’s “welfare Mom”) and Elena (Alfonso’s Latin socialite Mom). The scenes between the two are a delight, thanks to the expert acting of Sedgwick and Lozano. When they literally pull out the knives, the drama sizzles.
One of the most striking points to make about All of Me is that it is not about disability. If Lucy and Alfonso were fully abled, this would still be a strong play. It is a play about richly realized characters, a passionate love affair complicated by family relationships, involving interesting complications of which disability is only one of many.
Madison Ferris, Kyra Sedgwick, Lily Mae Harrington
There is nothing didactic here. There are no speeches about what it feels like to face these specific limitations, no lengthy diatribes or discussions about the challenges of navigating the world, just real life problems in which these accidents of fate are incidental and not essential. Soul and spirit shine through. By the end of this play, I found myself far more interested in the competitive relationship between sisters Lucy and Jackie then I was in Lucy’s disability. All of Me grabs your attention by featuring two disabled protagonists, but it keeps it by giving you fully complex and passionate humans.
The design team of Brett Banakis and Edward T. Morris (set), Sarah LeFeber (costumes), and Matt Otto (sound) create effective environments that serve the play well.
photos by Monique Carboni
All of Me
The New Group
Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre
Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 West 42nd St
ends on June 16, 2024
for tickets, visit The New Group
