Stage version of Daniel Keyes story runs through Dec. 17
Considering the popularity of Daniel Keyes’ 1958 short story “Flowers for Algernon” and the way it still resonates with those who have experienced the story on page, stage or film, I’m surprised that that the play hasn’t been produced in one of the main Sarasota area theaters in the last three decades.
Somehow, I’d never seen the show before it opened in the Manatee Performing Arts Center’s intimate Bradenton Kiwanis Studio Theatre. Friends were certainly familiar with it. Every time I mentioned it to people old enough to recall the original short story, David Rogers’ stage version or the 1968 Academy Award-winning film “Charlie” with Cliff Robertson, they would get misty-eyed recalling the story of a mentally challenged man with an extremely low IQ who undergoes an operation that turns him into a genius.
It’s a moving and affecting story that reaches only some of its potential in the production staged by David Nields. Part of that is a change in attitudes about and treatment for those with mental challenges since the story was published nearly 60 years ago. And part of it is a cast that struggles to create believable characters. We have been spoiled by the often high quality of community theater in the area, so when a production is more on the level of “amateur” than the average show, it can be disappointing.
The production does feature a fine, understated and well-considered performance by Colton Larsen as Charlie Gordon, a 32-year-old man with a childlike demeanor who works as a delivery boy and assistant at a bakery and takes classes at a school for people with mental disabilities.
Charlie is a guinea pig for science, with the potential of helping millions of others. In the simplest terms, the operation removes the damaged part of his brain to allow space for the regeneration of the healthier sections. Scientists have tried it on a lab mouse named Algernon, who becomes an unlikely friend to Charlie as they compete in maze tests that measure the young man’s progress.
The results for Charlie are stunning, and Larsen presents a multi-faceted portrait of a man who develops from sweetly innocent, always with a smile on his face because he doesn’t have reasons for worry, to someone burdened by too much knowledge and a short time to use it. His posture and manner of speaking change as he becomes smarter and more confident. He also touches as as Charlie begins to recall moments from a difficult childhood with a younger sister who taunted him and a mother who couldn't cope with the challenges he presented.
He is nicely paired with Lauren Ward as the young teacher who suggests him as a candidate for the operation, and who becomes an awkward love interest. Rik Robertson also contributes some compelling moments as both a lab scientist and one of the bakery workers who continually taunts and teases the unsuspecting Charlie.
But others in the cast, hard as they try, aren’t as believable in their roles as doctors, scientists, neighbors and work colleagues. We understand who they are and their interactions with Charlie, but it's more of a struggle to connect with them.
Scenic designer Ralph Nurmela, who has become an integral part of many of the Studio Theatre productions, has designed a set with a backdrop that suggests a skyline of a big city, and four movable white panels that represent the kind of maze that Charlie is trapped in during his study. Lighting designer Nick Jones helps clarify shifts in place and mood. As effective as the set is, it becomes tiresome to watch the actors constantly move those panels and assorted tables and chairs into place from one scene to the next.
The play raises many important and timeless issues about medical care and how far research scientists can go with human subjects, along with a consideration of the full impact of artificial intelligence. I was just hoping for a little more emotion to go with them.