"Distracted," the play by Lisa Loomer that began its Midwest premiere run last night, is a perfect name. The Stray Dog Theatre production at Tower Grove Abbey deals with ADD, or ADHD, or whatever abbreviation is currently in favor for attention deficit disorder, in which children have extremely short attention spans and are often unable to control impulses to misbehave, to use bad language, to generally distract friends, classmates and family.
Loomer's characters often break character and the fourth wall, stepping forward and addressing the audience with a sharp aside, or an explanation, and they're always just right. For example, the always-delightful Michelle Hand, as Mama, and John Reidy, excellent as her husband Dad, are arguing about people who talk too much and don't listen. Suddenly, Hand steps forward and waves her arm to encompass the audience.
"They listen!" she exclaims, and the line is perfect.
In another, Adam Thenhaus, who portrays three different doctors, is explaining the benefits of Ritalin, using himself as as an example. With the drug, he says, "Someday Jesse might even be able to get a Ph.D. and help others." A perfect-length pause, a turn to the audience, and, "Or play a person with a Ph.D. who helps others."
Jesse is the son of Mama and Dad, the nine-year-old boy with a problem, like fearing school because there may be a fire drill and the sound of sirens frightens him. He's played by Garrett Ramshaw, a middle school pupil from Troy, Mo. He was late to opening night because his family car had a problem. Since he's offstage much of the evening, Stray Dog's artistic director, Gary F. Bell, became the understudy, reading Jesse's lines. Garrett arrived late in the first act and the transition was seamless.
Justin Been, making a debut as a director, had things well controlled, with fine pacing and movement. He, along with Kevin Boehm, Tyler Duenow and Jay V. Hall also deserve praise for an effective set and for lighting and projection design that provided a proper impression of the type of distractions that a person affected with the disorder might face.
Loomer's drama is not a disease-of-the-week TV show, nor does it make children like Jesse appear stupid or serve as the butt of jokes. He is what the deficit disorder makes him, and the thrust of the story is the reaction shown by parents, neighbors, teachers, therapists and physicians. This ranges from the "let the kid be a kid" reaction by Dad to the overwhelming research by Mama to the pill-popping of other mothers.
Hand takes complete command of the role, and Reidy was a fine complement as Dad, though he fumbled a few lines here and there. Colleen M. Backer and Melissa Harris each played three roles and handled the transitions admirably, with the help of minor costume changes. Backer was brilliant as a waitress who seems to have stepped from another universe. Katie Puglisi and Jenni Ryan were well-meaning, advice-giving, busy-body neighbors and Berklea Going was an ideal teenager, showing that other families had problems, too.
Loomer may be trying to cover too much when her characters discuss vaccines and other possible causes, plus many medications and possible solutions, and the ending is rather soft, but Been and his cast bring out its best.
Distracted, a production of Stray Dog Theatre at the Tower Grove Abbey, will run through Feb. 19.
—Joe