Maryanna Tolemache and Sandra Mae Frank Photo

From: Photo Flash: Ground Floor Theatre and Deaf Theatre Austin Present NEXT TO NORMAL

Next to Normal explores how one suburban household copes with crisis and mental illness. Dad's an architect; Mom rushes to pack lunches and pour cereal; their daughter and son are bright, wise-cracking teens, appearing to be a typical American family. And yet their lives are anything but normal because the mother has been battling bipolar disorder for 16 years.