Review: ALL OF ME at Barrington Stage Company

One of the many facets to Barrington Stage Company's Artistic Director, Julianne Boyd, it is easy to admire is the work she and the company have done to bring underrepresented communities into the light. BSC's 2002 season included pieces like AIN'T MISBEHAVIN', ANNA IN THE TROPICS, and now closes, with ALL OF ME.

Winner of the 2021 Burman New Play Award, written by Laura Winters, and directed by Ashley Brooke Monroe, ALL OF ME tells a classic tale with one fairly significant twist. Boy meets girl, boy gets girl; you know. But did you know that 1-in-5 or about 20% of the world's population, experience some form of disability. Persons with disabilities, on average as a group, are more likely to experience adverse socioeconomic outcomes than persons without disabilities. Boy uses wheelchair, girl uses scooter. Boy and girl use technology to connect to each other and the world around them. Love is holding them together even when the people in their lives want to pull them apart. It's a romantic coming-of-age story that hasn't been seen before. ALL OF ME is a hilarious and candid portrayal of disability and class in present-day America.

The two main characters in ALL OF ME, Lucy and Alfonso, both use text to speech AAC. In the world of the show, they have iPads where they type into one of the many AAC apps that exist. Once they're ready to say their thought, they hit a button that reads it in a digitized voice. Their devices would have some kind of external speaker to make them louder than the average iPad is capable of. Alfonso, whose family is well-off, has a digitized voice that sounds more like a human speaking voice. Lucy, whose family is not, has a default voice that sounds more robotic. Other than the fairly striking differences related to mobility and communication, Lucy, Alfonso, their families and story are further evidence to support the notion that in general, people are more alike than different. As such, most audience members will find the piece, funny, relevant, sweet, tender, and relatable.

The cast of ALL OF ME is uniformly strong and features Madison Ferris as Lucy, Danny J. Gomez as Alfonso, Alexandra Seal as Jackie, Jack Fellows as Moose, Leah Hocking as Connie, and Maggie Bofill as Elena. They are adept in their craft and enjoyable to watch. The team responsible for creating an ideal space for the action to play within includes Scenic Designer Brian Prather, Costume Designer Sarah Lefeber, Lighting Designer Miriam Nilofa Crowe, Sound Designer Matt Otto, Accessibility Consultant & Assistant Sound Designer Caitlin Cafiero, Production Stage Manager Jason Brouillard, Assistant Stage Manager Quinn O'Connor.

ALL OF ME is all kinds of good. Not good for a show about a particular group or type of people, it's just good. There is some aspect that should fit or tickle the funny bone for just about everyone. So, as the song with the same title asks: why not take ALL OF ME? Performances continue on the Boyd-Quinson Mainstage at Barrington Stage Company in downtown Pittsfield, MA through October 9th.

To post a comment, you must register and login.