"Next to Normal"

“NEXT TO NORMAL”

A musical about bipolar disorder…sounds like such a contradiction, almost offensive to those of us whose lives have been devastated by living with the havoc brought to family members of those who have mental illness.  But, when approached by a friend who invited me to see this play, I figured “why not”, I survived the real thing, let’s see how someone can turn this nightmare into entertainment!

 

The friend who invited me has a daughter who has bipolar disorder, who had made a number of suicide attempts.  I had a son with bipolar disorder, who I actually lost to his successful suicide attempt nearly three years ago.  So we agreed to go, for who knows what reasons.

The theatrical performance was at a very small theatre with a small cast.  I had no idea what to expect even in terms of the logistics and theatrics of the performance itself, and hadn’t realized it was going to be a musical until it started.   

From the moment the lights went up, I was completely spellbound and mesmerized.  The storyline of the mother/wife of the family having the mental disorder of bipolarism, was different from my personal experience, yet the challenges and heartbreaks of mental illness are pretty universal, and always a “family affair”. 

            It was a memorable performance by six actors, so extremely talented, one person’s voice more beautiful than the next.  And the biggest surprise of all? Not only was the play a musical, there were many lines that were laugh-out-loud-funny.  How several hours of time could present so many thoughts about the travesty of mental illness, in a way that I am sure stayed with the audience for a long time after they left the theatre, and entertain and educate at the same time, left me in awe and so grateful I had been there.

           The script left no stone unturned: the influence this mother’s illness had on her children, the combination of the children’s own struggles made worse by the mother’s illness - the son had committed suicide and the daughter struggled with illegal drug addiction, the frustration of trying to find medications which didn’t make the patient feel worse than the illness, the stress of never knowing what each new day may bring, and finally in the end, the husband’s inability to accept his wife’s decision not to take meds, and the dissolution of their marriage.  Also, the anger on the part of the daughter for her father in his attempts to hold the family together, which in the end resolved, hit close to home for me.

            I have a feeling that probably most of the audience were people who had some first hand knowledge of living with bipolar disorder.  The theatre company actually held an informational program after the play, which we did not stay for.  However, I feel hopeful that this performance is an indication of increased awareness of mental health disorders, and the need for us to be able to look at them full on in the face.

            Ironically, although my friend was worried about my reactions to sitting through the performance, in the end, it was my arm around her as she was weeping and thinking of all the sadness in her life as she worries and helps her daughter with her struggles.  But I am glad we went, and that we were there together.