An Unusual Review

I loved the 1985 movie MASK directed by Peter Bogdonavich with Cher, Eric Stoltz and Laura Dern. In March of 2008, Pasadena Playhouse premiered MASK: the Musical. Same story but this time directed for the stage by Richard Maltby Jr. with Michelle Duffy, Allen E. Read and Sara Glendening in the most recognizable roles. Being in the Los Angeles area, there are plenty of people who could write a review about the play citing acting quality, direction, staging etc. to determine if the play is artistically and professionally any good. What I would like to do is take you through the story line and show you what makes this play, like the movie, significant and impressive for the real life story it tells.

The story line (written by Anna Hamilton Phelan) is about Rocky Dennis, a boy affected by craniodiaphyseal dyplasia or lionitis. The condition affects his facial bone growth causing his features to grow farther apart, flatten and harden. The play portrays the good and bad moments of his real life while brining up issues and situations that many people with disabilities universally encounter. The universality of the experiences and issues Rocky experienced is what makes this play a strong one.

Right off the bat at the beginning of the play you are introduced to The Clan. On the surface they are a bunch of biker friends Rocky and his mother hang out with. They also represent the foundation for Rocky’s self-acceptance and positive self-esteem. People with disabilities on a near daily basis will encounter prejudice, ill-will and ignorance. Especially while young, people with disabilities encounter these situations alone—that is with no frame of reference garnered from others with similar life experiences. That can erode anyone’s self-esteem. Despite changing homes and school due to his mother’s employment and financial instability, Rocky was able to maintain a healthy self-confidence. I attribute that to the consistent presence of The Clan. The Clan as I see it, is a mini-society with people who are exactly who they are. They aren’t threatened or intimidated by Rocky’s differences. They were able to respond to Rocky appropriately—as one of them. Well adjusted people with disabilities have a community where they are accepted for whom they are while also being treated as an equal. That community can be as small as a nuclear family and as large as an international advocacy group.

Almost immediately the play sets up the next experience common to many people with disabilities—the doctor visit. No one likes going to the doctor and growing up with frequent visits can be discouraging to most people. In the play, Rocky had forged a personal relationship with his regular doctors. The relationship allowed them to talk as friends. The doctors asked questions about school and family and Rocky responded openly, even jokingly People whose disabilities require significant medical attention deal with it best by acquiring doctors who are experienced and knowledgeable in their treatment and who they like on a personal level. Over the years, these doctors will essentially become their medical “family”. This family feeling fostered by Rocky’s relationship with his doctors is a great buffer and contrast to his next encounter with the new doctor.

As is the case with new doctors encountering someone with a disability, this new doctor referred to Rocky as a patient and a condition. He never referred to him by name and never directly spoke to Rocky unless Rocky insisted. This experience was common during the time the play was set.

This unknown doctor brings on another universal concept experienced by many people with disabilities—the prognosis. The prognosis scene illustrates another reason Rocky was such a well adjusted person with a disability. In the scene, his mother included Rocky in the news. This gave him empowerment over his disability. In the scene she also categorically refutes the dire news as having been said before many times which never bore fruit. She also says something which drives her attitude toward bringing up Rocky. Had they both dwelled on these “expert” prognoses at any time, Rocky would have been long dead. Instead, they have focused on living their life fully and with focus. This attitude drives many well-adjusted and successful people with disabilities. Living in the moment is very important when you have a disability. One moment you are going about your life, the next you are inconveniently in the doctor’s office for an appointment or in the hospital for a procedure. In order to maintain an active life, focus must be paid on the life you have, not the disability.

Rocky’s focus on living his life and strong support from his mother and the Clan give him the foundation to confront uncomfortable and unnerving encounters with uneducated strangers. His school was both institutionally and socially loathe to accept him on equal terms. The scene in which Rocky and his mother introduce themselves to the principal is straight and to the point. The principal immediately assumes Rocky’s incompetence for General Education and tries to assume expertise in Rocky’s needs. Rusty, immediately simplifies the situation for him and rhetorically asks something along the lines of “do you teach algebra, history and English?” Of course the principal says yes. To his astonishment, Rusty asserts “those are his needs.” All too often education experts purport to know a person’s needs based on their perceived disability—never mind their own inexperience with the disability. What Rusty did was to claim the expertise for her and her son based on experience—which in many ways trumps all formal education.

Rocky had a less direct but equally compelling way to renounce ignorance among his peers in social situations. He used humour to gain attention. But once he got their attention he didn’t stop there. He offered to show what he knew—both academically and socially. He did this in a non threatening manner which simply showed who he was. He did not have expectations for how they would react—though of course he hoped it would be favorable. Again, Rocky had the acceptance of the Clan and his mother—he didn’t need other people’s acceptance. This is why he was able to offer his friendship freely. Successful people with disabilities assert their needs and present their strengths independently as a fact—not as an excuse or source of pity or admiration. Well-adjusted people with disabilities—like any other well adjusted person—offer themselves without apology and leave it at that. People responded positively to Rocky because he wasn’t needy and he wasn’t aggressive.

While Rocky wasn’t needy—he did have needs just like anyone else. This was effectively confronted in the sequence between Rocky and Rusty about girls. I think this is a particularly stressful subject for the parent of a child with a disability. Every parent wants their child to find a special person—Rusty is no exception. She tries to evade the issue though by first telling him what she finds cute about him. She then does a well meaning but potentially very embarrassing thing—hires Rocky a prostitute. The scene brings up the issue of romance and intimate relationships for people with disabilities. That sequence in and of itself resolves nothing really. Except in that time period, romance for people with disabilities was just beginning to be addressed so Rocky and Rusty had little to draw upon to resolve the issue. Now, it is a more talked about issue and more people with disabilities are taking ownership of their sexuality and interpersonal relationships. They are asserting that they have the same feelings and needs as anyone and want the same thing as we all do.

The play’s sequence goes smoothly to Rocky meeting his first love. I have no idea if this romance sequence is factually true. I’m inclined to think it is not. But that is not the point. The sequence brings up in a romanticized fashion some issues a person with a disability faces when entering into a romantic relationship. Rocky, like most people with a disability is apprehensive as to how his love interest will take it. This visits his fears in the previous sequence that he tried to discuss with his mom. Would anyone love him with his disability? The in the play and the movie Phelan takes the easy or at least metaphorical way out of the issue by making Rocky’s love interest blind. She is able to get to know Rocky first for who he is. Only later in the relationship does she “see” his physical attributes. For the time period it is set in this is an extraordinary way for someone with a physically visible difference to get another person to look beyond their disability. That’s why the screenwriter took creative liberties and made Rocky’s love interest blind. In this day and age with the internet and internet dating becoming less and less taboo, people with a physical difference have the opportunity to present themselves to a potential love interest before their disability. The play does a smooth job to present the situation to its predictable end. Diana falls in love with Rocky for who he is and when she is presented with what he looks like, she is not dissuaded.

The meeting of Rocky with Diana’s parents presents the other side of establishing a romantic relationship with another person—how others will perceive you. Diana’s parents are also understandably protective of their daughter. They are put off by his disability. Instead of getting to know Rocky, they try to get themselves and Diana away. Rocky is understandably put off by their reaction but, as time goes by, he responds like the assertive individual he is. He accepts the situation for what it is, values it, and moves on. In the life of a person with a disability, this is a real situation they must handle. Finding a special person is half the task. You (and your love interest) must educate those closest to each of you who have questions about the disability or the feasibility of engaging in a relationship with a person with a disability. Usually, this situation calls for being assertive and upfront because many people will react like Diana’s parents and either refuse to acknowledge their concerns or try to remove themselves or their loved one from the relationship. If nothing else, that will not be healthy for the primary relationship. In any case, Rocky’s support system—The Clan--come to his aide again. He is still accepted unconditionally by them and they still include him in important events and rites of passage like a bike trip to Sturges, North Dakota for the annual motorcycle rally. In any case, the movie and play end essentially the same way with Rocky dying before that rite of passage is reached. His family—his mom and The Clan still remember him.

This play debuted in Los Angeles and Allen E. Read received an Ovation award nomination for his portrayal of Rocky. It is my hope that this play makes it to Broadway. This play can speak to anyone about their own lives as long as you can be like Rusty, The Clan and Diana and look past the “Mask”. This play brings up so many universal issues and attempts to blur cultural lines. Whether you are disabled or nondisabled these issues can be found in your life. That’s why I believe in the play and its underlying message of equality. Rocky Dennis “lived every second of his life” as his mother put it in an interview. That’s what we all should do.