View from the Green Room: Laughter and tears for Up Down Boy
Director David Hennessy with Seán Upton as Jack and Brenda Giles as Kate.
David Hennessy Musical & Dramatic Society’s play “Up Down Boy” is an emotional rollercoaster that brings audible sobs and visible tears as the drama moves inexorably towards that triumphant close when a mother (Brenda Giles) launches her Down Syndrome 18-year-old Jack (Sean Upton) into a world where there is no Mammy to shield him from the challenges that she knows her special needs child will find Alpine high.
There are parents, grandparents and siblings here that know only too well the heartache and the joy that comes with a special child. But… saying goodbye is surely the cruelest of all moments.
However, there is also the pride that comes when independent living knocks on the door of adulthood and opens a world of opportunity, however limited.
Sean Upton is hilarious as Jack, the Down’s Syndrome boy on the cusp of college and has an entrance to die for. Jack heads for the shower in a towel and a shower-cap, dancing to the tune of Wagon Wheel, while his exasperated mother pleads with him to come out and get his things together for college.
Planet Jack’s inner world is a rich and magical one, full of creativity and imagination that plays out on an animated rear screen projection that allows us peer into a world where Jack is a superhero flying through the universe performing acts of daring-do as he saves all and sundry.
Brenda Giles gives her finest performance yet as Jack’s devoted mother Kate who lives and breathes every moment of her darling boy’s life. Gathering together all the stuff he needs for college living, as he gets ready as always in slow time, Kate relives all the key moments of Jack’s young life. The cruelty of the diagnosis, the unfairness of it all, the sacrifices, the hurt of unfeeling prejudice and the fear for the future that never leaves you from the moment your child is born.
The wonder of this script is that it never leaves us in sadness for very long. Laughter is always close as it should be with a child whose love is deep as the ocean and whose needs are very much like everyone else’s. “NO JACK,” declares Kate, “you CAN’T bring a six-foot-six cut out of Paul O’Connell with you” but makes certain that he has all his favourite CDs.
Kate has worked toward this moment for all of Jack’s life when he can learn to live independently. “You have been tied to my apron strings far too long and now it’s time to let go,” says Kate – more to herself than to her superhero son.
She understands his adult wants and needs… ”I want a girlfriend”… because Kate has always listened to Jack as he has grown into his teen years. Jack is ready to fly and feels little of Kate’s stress because he feels secure in a loving family. Kate wouldn’t have had it any other way. “You make my life sparkle, Jack… You’re the diamond in my life.”
A brilliant production from David Hennessy and outstanding performances from Sean Upton as Up Down Boy and Brenda Giles as devoted mother Kate.
