A young woman, Helen, sits and roughly massages her forehead, surrounded by toppled tables and vivid, mute balloons. She has thrown a birthday party for her boyfriend, Gary (who never appears) and it has gone horribly awry. Enter Phil, Gary’s mother, and her scowl is enough to inform us that she is not Helen’s biggest fan. They move around the room, circling each other like predators, both equally convinced that the other is the threat to Gary’s wellbeing. Another important fact: Gary has autism.
Produced by the We Get High On This collective, Normal is a play not about autism, but about the way we as a society treat those who are somewhere on the autism spectrum. Through the tense dialogue between the two women, their behaviour is dissected and scrutinised: motherly instincts become smothering; intimacy becomes a point of anxiety. Hearing them speak about Gary is difficult, sometimes infuriating, but our own complicity is never left unchecked: viewers are encouraged to sit at tables onstage.
While Gary is a hot topic with the characters, so much more is explored in this short play. It draws us in with its unassuming set and reticent characters, slowly revealing its depth and reach.
