Stroke Static

Stroke Static by Lindsay Price is a heartbreaking look at dementia from the inside. The struggle between real and fantasy. Past and present. An award-winning theatrical experience. Russ is an eighty-three year-old man in a nursing home struggling with multi-infarct dementia. But in his mind he sees himself as a boy of eighteen, and thus is played by a young actor. Russ wrestles with reality versus fantasy, and past versus present as he struggles to understand where he is and what is happening to him. The ensemble plays a variety of real and imaginary characters in Russ’ mind. A heartbreaking look at what goes on in the mind of someone who can’t communicate. Under the direction of Megan Emanuel , the incredibly talented drama group at Brookville High School in Lynchburg, VA realized that the characters in Stroke Static represent much more than just characters in a play. There are real people every day dealing with these real life situations and this team was able to connect to that message and convey the emotion through their performances: “We’ve had great success with your play. It’s been a challenging and rewarding experience for my Advanced Acting students. I wanted the acting to be as authentic as possible so we took a field trip to a local Memory Care facility and spent the afternoon painting pumpkins and interacting with the residents. It was an eye opening experience for many of my students and helped them connect to their characters in a meaningful way. We also participated in our city’s Alzheimer’s Walk and have raised $850 toward our $1000 goal for the Alzheimer’s Association. We won our district competition, our regional competition, and we are headed to the VHSL State Theatre Festival. We were credited at our regional competition for choosing such a great script. Our mantra throughout this process has been…”tell Russ’s story!” It’s probably the most difficult script we have tackled and the hard work the students have invested is paying off.”

Time for a Tfolk Top Ten Plays For…Advanced Actors. You have students who can go to the next level. They are ready to tackle scripts beyond the norm of character development and realistic story lines. You want to raise the bar and we want to help you do that. Check out our top ten plays for advanced actors. It’s a great mix of issue driven, ensemble driven, character driven work. Click the link and you’ll be taken to the webpage for each play. There you’ll get the details and read sample pages. All the best with your search! Clowns With Guns A theatrical and absurd look at the repeated and seemingly endless cycle of school violence. This story is mean. There are guns. This play packs a theatrical punch. Censorbleep The Bleep Bleep Girls are the greatest group in school. They know what’s best. And when students try to stand up for themselves, or don’t do the “right” thing, they get dealt with. A great character driven piece where teenagers are turned into garbage and disappear. Breathless Three girls named Summer. Summer Adams is looking for love in all the wrong places. Summer Robertson is hanging on through her battle with cancer. And Summer Davis refuses to lose, even at the expense of her body and her friends.Three races of discovery. Will they crash or fly? A beautiful mature character piece with strong female leads. The Blue and the Grey Charlie is surrounded by ghosts: her father, a classmate’s sister, and the grey. Who are the grey? Civil war soldiers. A chance for an ensemble to build a haunting, exhilarating, and theatrical landscape. Power Play A gunshot is heard. Which of the five characters did it and why? Was it the Goth girl? The football star? What are the realities and the stereotypes of high school violence? Violence is about power. So is high school. This play has absurd moments, vivid characterization, and a powerful message. Stroke Static Russ is an eighty-three year-old man in a nursing home struggling with multi-infarct dementia. But in his mind he sees himself as a boy of eighteen, and thus is played by a young actor. The ensemble plays a variety of real and imaginary characters in Russ’ mind. A heartbreaking look at what goes on in the mind of someone who can’t communicate. Tick Talk The teenagers in Tick Talk have a lot to say, but no way to say it. Most characters are limited to only ONE WORD for the whole play. A fascinating challenge for actors: What happens when a character has just one word to express hopes, fears, and frustrations? What if they have something terribly important to say but can’t? Emotional Baggage One of the most unique plays we sell. There’s no dialogue. The play is based solely on non-verbal storytelling through mask and movement. Seven strangers meet in a train station. Instead of luggage, they all carry their own “emotional baggage.” Chemo Girls and Other Plays A collection that examines the impact of cancer through the eyes of teenagers. Characters deal with the difficulty of saying the word out loud, the difficulty of admitting a friend or family member has cancer, and the difficulty of finding the energy and the attitude needed to fight. Have You Heard? A play formatted solely in monologue. The story follows what happens in a school when rumours and secrets spin out of control. What makes a secret more powerful: When it’s the truth? Or when it’s a lie?

TranscriptHi. This is Lindsay Price. I am at the Arizona State Thespian Festival and this is Spread the Love. This week we are going to talk about Stroke Static. Stroke Static is a very unique play. It combines realism and heights of theatricality. It’s one of my plays, I’m rather partial to it and I’ll tell you why in just a second. I’m so happy that I have got three cast members from Arizona who have just recently done the play. So we’re gonna talk to them first. Here we go. Tada! Ok so wave. Say, “Hello!” Hello! Say your name. I’m Zac. I’m Gord. I’m Kelsey. Who were you in the play? I was Russ. Russ is the main character. I was Bill. Bill is Russ’ brother. Meagan. Meagan is Russ’ granddaughter. What happens is is that the main character, he’s eighty-three, right Zac? Yeah. How old does he think he is? He thinks he’s eighteen. Right. So he’s played by a teenager. Ok. So I love that you guys love this play. It fills my heart with such warm, warm feelings. I cannot tell you. So each of you, if you would please tell me and our audience why you love Stroke Static. Ok, Zac, you go first. I like it because I saw so much of my life inside of it. And my grandfather… we went through the same thing, the same dynamics, and it was so great to be able to play that. Yeah. The play is about multi-infarct dementia. What was it like to play that from the inside? It was challenging. It was really great, and like, really I learned a lot about acting. Awesome. Next The realism of it. That this isn’t just characters in a play. Real people in real life go through this. And it was so real in that sense. And there were certain scenes in there that you just like, “I’ve seen this happen before.” That’s awesome. It gives you chills even now. Awesome. Perfect. Kelsey. I’m short. Just the fact that I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve never done anything like it. It was so realistic, and different, and unique all at the same time. It was such a great experience. Awesome. And it really means a lot to me that you really like this play, because… Ok wave, I’m going to turn back again. Stroke Static is very partial to me because it’s actually about my grandfather and what he went through with multi-infarct dementia. And every time a school does it, it just breaks my heart because I lived the story and it also fills my heart because it means that he’s living on. And I think it’ll be a part of their memories and it’s gonna be a part of mine, too. That’s it for Spread the Love. Thanks a lot. Bye. Ok, wave again. Bye. Sweet.

Lindsay speaks with students from Boulder Creek High School about Stroke Static.