Why this play? Why now?

A playwright writes story's. This one is personal. I have a grand daughter with intractable epilepsy. It is the least understood or researched of all the brain disorders in this country.

So I have set out to remedy that by broadly sharing her story. My first iteration was read by my daughter. The mother of my grandchild with epilepsy. "It's a really good story Mom, but it's fantasy. It has nothing to do with the reality of your grand daughter’s life or how it impacts ours." S*&+^#@**... Well that pissed me off. Back to writing. I read the next iteration to my writing peers. One glance at their faces and they looked as if I had just shot their dog. "O.K.", I thought, "not there yet." Next version, I started hearing songs and Seizure showed up as a character. Now I knew how to tell this story. Abigail's story, Abby for short. And Seizure calls her Abby Normal. Thank you, Mel Brooks. A musical it is! Music as it always does brings the entire play to life.

Synopsis

From birth to almost ten years old Abigail is seizure free. Then like some tsunami, Epilepsy storms in. A week after her diagnosis a seizure sends her to the hospital with a broken arm.

Abby's parents still reeling from the news, weigh their medical options. They hadn't even had to time to consider the medication when Child protective services shows up at the hospital. Three advesary's enter their world.

1. Epilepsy

2. CPS

3. A system ill equipped to deal with any mental health issues, often making a difficult situation worse. All while coupled with the prejudice and misunderstanding surrounding this brain disorder.

As Abby matures to a teen, (quickly in the story) we are witness to her struggles to realize her dream. She wants to be a writer and film maker. Refusing to accept a diminished life as she faces down 'Seizure' with courage and colossal perseverance.

We are also witness to the isolation and loneliness caused by severe restrictions that come with any disability, particularly epilepsy. Abby's relentless zest for life is the heart of this story and it is driven by music. It is a hard subject, it is a necessary story that's time has come to be told. There are numerous shows and one musical Dear Evan Hansen about autism. NOTHING on T.V. Film or stage about epilepsy. But a musical? What a vehicle, right?

An excerpt from Abby which sums up her attitude

ABBY DIRECT ADDRESS

Did you know our brain has been compared to the Milky Way. We have as many neurons as our solar system has stars. As of today science estimates we have 86 billion neurons, with 7000 dendrites for each neuron which then makes over a 100 trillion connections...CAN YOU IMAGINE THAT?!

I like drawing the parallel of my brain with a multitude of stars. It is vast, this noggin of mine, with a gazillion probabilities waiting to be revealed, WAITING TO HAPPEN. Because that's a lot of possibility's of what might be discovered about a cure for epilepsy. And that gives me hope. I believe that because I have witnessed an improbability become probable.

*Original Artwork Courtesy of Jett Jackson © Tribeca Holdings