Schultz Theatre To Present ‘Flowers For Algernon’
July 12, 2018
SPOTLIGHT
By SHELBY MERTENS
DNR 7/12/18
BROADWAY — The Schultz Theatre ensemble is bringing the powerful drama “Flowers for Algernon” to life on the stage starting this weekend.
Based on the science fiction novel by Daniel Keyes, “Flower for Algernon” tells the story of a mentally disabled man’s quest for intelligence. The play is directed by Richard Clem, who’s also starring as the play’s lead, Charlie Gordon.
“Flowers for Algernon” will be performed in J. Frank Hillyard Middle School’s auditorium Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m., as well as July 20-21 at 7 p.m. and July 22 at 3 p.m.
The “heavy drama” is a change of pace for Schultz.
“It’s very different from what Schultz has done in quite a while,” Clem said. “That’s why I was anxious to bring it here; it’s different.”
Set in the mid-1960s, an experimental brain surgery is tested on a mouse named Algernon. The mouse gains intelligence from the lobotomy, so scientists perform the surgery on Charlie, too, and Charlie turns into a genius. But the change is not permanent. Algernon starts regressing, and Charlie later returns to his former self.
“In many ways, Algernon and Charlie’s lives are parallel,” Clem said. “Some of the things Algernon starts exhibiting, Charlie starts later.”
After the intelligence Charlie gains is lost, he returns to the state mental hospital he lived in before the surgery. “It tells a lot about the human spirit because of his determination that he wants to be smart, he fights tooth and nail to keep the intelligence engaged, but in the end it ends up being a futile gesture,” Clem said. Charlie has been a challenging role for Clem. To prepare, Clem spoke to a cousin who works as a pediatric psychiatrist for mentally disabled children. “There was a lot of things that I didn’t take into account when I first started doing this part of it — understanding the characterization. It’s encompassing. It’s not just in his mannerisms, or his voice, or what he thinks; it’s in the way he walks, it’s in his actions. It’s reflected in everything he does,” he said. “The transition of being that Charlie, to someone who’s supposedly a genius and then going back to that, that’s a challenge for anybody on the stage.”
This will be Clem’s first time directing at Schultz in three years. Clem is a longtime performer at Schultz.
Terri Hoover is playing Alice, Charlie’s teacher who eventually becomes his love interest. Hoover moved to the Valley in March from Texas. She comes with 25 years of experience in community and professional theater. This is her first production with Schultz.
She has grown into her character as she settles into the Valley.
“I think Alice is just a wonderful grounding role for Charlie. She has this loving arc of seeing and loving him as he is, even before he has the operation, and coming to admire him for his strength and what he’s had to endure,” Hoover said. “She gets to portray a wide range of emotions in this show, which is really fun to do.”
Hoover, who mostly acts in comedies, has enjoyed playing a different kind of role.
“I like to do a lot of comedies, so it’s really nice to take a break from comedy and do something a little more dramatic for a change and bring out a different range of emotion from your audience, ”she said. “We want to give them all the feels.”
Clem said it’s an inspiring story that some in the audience may be able to connect to.
“I have family — and I’m sure there’s other people in the audience that have family — who are mentally challenged,” he said. “There’s a spirit among them of wanting to do better, to make themselves more than what they really are. Charlie always wanted to be smart. He was going to do whatever he could to get smart and he finally did. … That’s a lesson all of us could use, is that there is no challenge in front of us that we can’t overcome if we apply ourselves to do what we set out to do.”
Tickets are $15 for adults and $13 for students and seniors. To buy tickets, visit schultztheatre.com. For more information, call 540-405-2481.
“It tells a lot about the human spirit because of his determination.”
-Richard Clem, actor/director
FROM LEFT: Deanna Garmer, playing Burt Selden, Gary Hines, playing Dr. Strauss, and Dennis Lee, playing Professor Nemur, check up on Richard Clem, playing Charlie Gordon, during a rehearsal of the upcoming Schultz Theatre production of “Flowers for Algernon.”
Richard Clem (left), playing Charlie Gordon, undergoes an inkblot test with Deanna Garmer, playing laboratory assistant Burt Selden, as they rehearse a scene from the upcoming Schultz Theatre production of “Flowers for Algernon.”
By SHELBY MERTENS
DNR 7/12/18
BROADWAY — The Schultz Theatre ensemble is bringing the powerful drama “Flowers for Algernon” to life on the stage starting this weekend.
Based on the science fiction novel by Daniel Keyes, “Flower for Algernon” tells the story of a mentally disabled man’s quest for intelligence. The play is directed by Richard Clem, who’s also starring as the play’s lead, Charlie Gordon.
“Flowers for Algernon” will be performed in J. Frank Hillyard Middle School’s auditorium Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m., as well as July 20-21 at 7 p.m. and July 22 at 3 p.m.
The “heavy drama” is a change of pace for Schultz.
“It’s very different from what Schultz has done in quite a while,” Clem said. “That’s why I was anxious to bring it here; it’s different.”
Set in the mid-1960s, an experimental brain surgery is tested on a mouse named Algernon. The mouse gains intelligence from the lobotomy, so scientists perform the surgery on Charlie, too, and Charlie turns into a genius. But the change is not permanent. Algernon starts regressing, and Charlie later returns to his former self.
“In many ways, Algernon and Charlie’s lives are parallel,” Clem said. “Some of the things Algernon starts exhibiting, Charlie starts later.”
After the intelligence Charlie gains is lost, he returns to the state mental hospital he lived in before the surgery. “It tells a lot about the human spirit because of his determination that he wants to be smart, he fights tooth and nail to keep the intelligence engaged, but in the end it ends up being a futile gesture,” Clem said. Charlie has been a challenging role for Clem. To prepare, Clem spoke to a cousin who works as a pediatric psychiatrist for mentally disabled children. “There was a lot of things that I didn’t take into account when I first started doing this part of it — understanding the characterization. It’s encompassing. It’s not just in his mannerisms, or his voice, or what he thinks; it’s in the way he walks, it’s in his actions. It’s reflected in everything he does,” he said. “The transition of being that Charlie, to someone who’s supposedly a genius and then going back to that, that’s a challenge for anybody on the stage.”
This will be Clem’s first time directing at Schultz in three years. Clem is a longtime performer at Schultz.
Terri Hoover is playing Alice, Charlie’s teacher who eventually becomes his love interest. Hoover moved to the Valley in March from Texas. She comes with 25 years of experience in community and professional theater. This is her first production with Schultz.
She has grown into her character as she settles into the Valley.
“I think Alice is just a wonderful grounding role for Charlie. She has this loving arc of seeing and loving him as he is, even before he has the operation, and coming to admire him for his strength and what he’s had to endure,” Hoover said. “She gets to portray a wide range of emotions in this show, which is really fun to do.”
Hoover, who mostly acts in comedies, has enjoyed playing a different kind of role.
“I like to do a lot of comedies, so it’s really nice to take a break from comedy and do something a little more dramatic for a change and bring out a different range of emotion from your audience, ”she said. “We want to give them all the feels.”
Clem said it’s an inspiring story that some in the audience may be able to connect to.
“I have family — and I’m sure there’s other people in the audience that have family — who are mentally challenged,” he said. “There’s a spirit among them of wanting to do better, to make themselves more than what they really are. Charlie always wanted to be smart. He was going to do whatever he could to get smart and he finally did. … That’s a lesson all of us could use, is that there is no challenge in front of us that we can’t overcome if we apply ourselves to do what we set out to do.”
Tickets are $15 for adults and $13 for students and seniors. To buy tickets, visit schultztheatre.com. For more information, call 540-405-2481.
“It tells a lot about the human spirit because of his determination.”
-Richard Clem, actor/director
FROM LEFT: Deanna Garmer, playing Burt Selden, Gary Hines, playing Dr. Strauss, and Dennis Lee, playing Professor Nemur, check up on Richard Clem, playing Charlie Gordon, during a rehearsal of the upcoming Schultz Theatre production of “Flowers for Algernon.”
Richard Clem (left), playing Charlie Gordon, undergoes an inkblot test with Deanna Garmer, playing laboratory assistant Burt Selden, as they rehearse a scene from the upcoming Schultz Theatre production of “Flowers for Algernon.”
