Work Sample: Me, More Normal

Selected Documentation

Me, More Normal (2017, SoLow Festival and Philly Fringe Festival)

Me, More Normal was a solo show I wrote and performed, presented by my performance company, Lupine Performance Cooperative, in 2017 for that year’s SoLow and Fringe Festivals. The play included projections (John Bezark), audience participation, performance, and original video creation to explore the ableist construction of “normality,” as experienced by myself and my autistic brother. Direction by Krista Thorp.

Photos (by Dan Schultz)

Read the full Me, More Normal script here, or preview it below.

The end of the piece featured two videos: old home recordings paired with a newly filmed video. The first are clips that capture the playful relationship my brother and I maintained during our childhood, despite our neurological differences. The second was a recent attempt to recreate one of our childhood games in our adulthood: we each try to be the “last one” to eat our dessert, in an effort to make the other jealous. We try all manner of tricks to get the other to eat their cookie first. The video closes with a clip of my brother being celebrated and supported during a game at my twelfth birthday party.

These tender videos played at the end of the piece after I invoke acceptance into my relationship with my brother. After I apologize for making him feel othered, I pass out freshly baked cookies to the audience while the home video and new video play simultaneously on two different walls, culminating in the final birthday party clip. For simplicity, the below video features all the clips in sequence.

Read the Broad Street Review of Me, More Normal here, or preview it below.

As part of our engagement and audience building strategy for Me, More Normal, myself and director Krista Thorp partnered with the Arc of Philadelphia. The Arc of Philadelphia provides services to people and youth with intellectual disabilities in the Greater Philadelphia region. Together, we collaborated to put on a disabilities access workshop for working artists.

You can read more about that workshop here, or check out the preview below.