Clinically Un-Depressed by Will Holcomb - 8-11m, 5-8w, 1 opt., 10 poss. double cast
Clinically Un-Depressed is a two-act dramatic comedy where Cole Black, a boy with a chemical imbalance that renders him unable to be sad or angry, changes everyone around him. The story is told from the perspective of a Vietnam veteran, Millard Anderson, who is the grumpy old man of the neighborhood. His main pleasure in life is yelling at kids from his front porch. Most kids run, but Cole sticks around, starts talking to him, and transforms Millard’s miserable life into something wonderful. Cole’s father, Blake Black, a high-strung lawyer, is psychologically abusive to his wife and Cole. But, to Cole, his father is a source of fascination as he tries to understand the emotions which are a mystery to him. Because Cole responds differently, people have to respond to him differently. The school bully becomes his best friend, the uppity girl becomes his girlfriend, he becomes his boss’s go-to person for how to run a business and other lives are changed.
posted by Jim Vogel at 11:00 AM
6 Comments:
My initial thought was that this might work for a FAIR production, if we continue to do them. It might be a possible family show, but lacks the title to draw.
I think it’s heartwarming, moving, funny, thought-provoking and socially relevant. The play beautifully connects each character to express a message of hope and optimism.
I was an initial reader of this, and I did not recommend it move forward.
From Melissa - I really wanted to like this show, but I don't. Tech needs would be simple enough. Lots of different locations, but a creative director and set designer could make it work. Usually, I'm not fond of a narrator (personal bias), but the narrator was my favorite part of the show. Plot wise, I feel it fell just short of everything it was attempting. Though they name the disorder that causes Cole, the "Clinically Un-depressed" boy who always smiles, the show isn't about neurodiversity. Character development is present. Especially awful men with a redemptive arc trope X3... but in all three cases it's way too fast and abrupt to be believable. The grumpy old neighbor (who is also the neighbor, one of the three awful men, turned boy's best friend) has a gun hobby. Fine. But the gun storyline turns into something that seems irresponsible to put on stage. When the 17ish year old Cole,who can't help but smile, and his girlfriend (getting the girl was also to abrupt to be believable) are robbed at gunpoint, his smile and the gun safety he has learned from the grouchy neighbor is enough to disarm the robber (literally and figuratively). Cole then brings the girl and the robber home for dinner, where mom and dad accept this as normal and expected behavior from their son. The final scene is Cole giving the eulogy for his grumpy turned best friend neighbor (the narrator). Fine. Until it turns into and ends with a dance party. Barely 3 out of 5 stars. It's a no for me.
Like others, I was encouraged when I started reading this script. It seemed to start out well, presenting a sweet story with interesting characters and an uplifting message. Alas, it slowly devolved into a predictable storyline, with all-too-familiar character arcs. As soon as guns got involved I thought it was going off the rails, which it ultimately did. It could have been such a good play but the writer fell into all the old traps. It's a no for me.
I couldn't make it through. The characters were too exaggerated, the arcs unrealistic, the dialogue overwritten, the narrative device unnecessary. No from me. A fine story (at least the first half that I read). but poorly written.
Post a Comment
<< Home