"Handshake" by Julie Gilbert and Robert A. Brodner, M.D.
New drama tackles the "valor" of being on the medical forefront, the doctor-patient relationship,
and the patient-family relationship in new and revealing ways.
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| "Handshake" -- Dan Pinto (the surgeon), Brian Delate (the patient). Photo by Jonathan Slaff | |
January 13 to January 30 (opens January 15)
The Miranda Theatre, 259 West 30th Street
Presented by Patrice Samara and Pam Koslow in association with Strut and Fret, Inc.
Wednesdays through Fridays at 8:00 pm, Saturdays at 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm, Sundays at 2:00 pm. /h5>
"Handshake," a new play by Julie Gilbert and Robert A. Brodner, M.D., is a drama of trust and faith, inspired by the courage of real Parkinson's Disease patients facing a serious and dangerous surgical procedure. Gilbert is an award-winning playwright, biographer and novelist; Brodner is a Florida-based neurosurgeon whose experiences with the (relatively new and radical) procedure of pallidotomy for Parkinson's Disease prompted this play. The work is not a hospital drama like "E.R.," although the brain surgery is actually shown (through use of multimedia) in the second part of the production. It is a provocative and moving tale of a family in crisis, offering abundant wisdom on life, fate and the tests of character our complex medical system puts us through. The director is Yanna Kroyt-Brandt.
In the play, an eye doctor suffering with Parkinson's Disease is fighting to live and keep his family from disintegration. He seeks out an experimental surgery and puts his faith in a headstrong surgeon who is performing the operation for the first time. The play exposes how the dynamic of a father's disease changes his family, in which every member shoulders the risk of losing him in different ways. The man's wife, daughter and adopted son are divided about whether the father should risk the operation.
The play was three years in the making and had Ms. Gilbert twice in the operating room as an observer, at Dr. Brodner's elbow. The medical cases inspiring it are real but the family portrayed is totally imaginary. The style of the play could be termed heightened realism. Playwright Gilbert drew somewhat from the language of actual surgeries, but found that distinctive rhythms and syntax emerged in the dialogues and confessions of the family drama as she wrote it.
Case histories of pallidotomy provided rich material for the stage. In one case, a Parkinson's-crippled patient who could not walk before his operation actually danced off the operating table and down the hall after his procedure. Pallidotomy has also lead to sexual rejuvenation in many patients. One such case, in which the patient attested to being "half a man" before his procedure, cued Gilbert to probe deeply into the role of sex in the relationship of the husband and wife of this play, whose marriage is tested severely.
The title "Handshake" was chosen to point directly at the heightened relationship of trust between the patient and surgeon in such critical cases. It was Dr. Brodner's intention for the play to portray, with the immense power of theater, the nobility and courage of people facing radical surgeries and serious illnesses. Of this group, he considers Parkinson's patients exemplary. Julie Gilbert now attests that writing the play has helped her get in touch with her own belief system and to know deeply what goes on when a family is afflicted by a grave illness. She relates that writing the play required the authors to go through a process in which "We built a 'kit' of possibilities, possible reactions, ways to behave under impossible stress."
Julie Gilbert won the Los Angeles Drama-Logue award for Best Play in 1993 for "The Cottage." She was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for biography in 1996 for "Opposite Attraction," a book on the lives of Erich Maria Remarque and Paulette Goddard, and is widely known for her book on her great aunt, "Ferber: A Biography of Edna Ferber and her Circle." She has written eight plays and three screenplays.
Robert A. Brodner, M.D. practices in Palm Beach County, FL and was the first physician in that state to perform the procedure of pallidotomy. He is a graduate of Fordham College and did his neurosurgical training at Mt. Sinai Hospital in NYC. Reflecting on this, his first play, he notes that it was important for him to reveal how "the entire family is a victim of the disease almost as much as the patient."
The production features an accomplished cast: Brian Delate (the patient) just completed filming "Lonesome" with Marissa Berenson. He played Truman's father in "The Truman Show" with Jim Carrey. Other films include "Home Before Dark" (with Katherine Ross) and "The Shawshank Redemption" (with Tim Robbins). He is featured in the upcoming PBS teleplay "Hell Hath No Fury." His theater credits include "Tracers," for which he earned critical acclaim in New York and London, numerous productions at the Public Theater (including "Ice Bridge") and two shows with Richard Foreman. Dan Pinto (the surgeon) played Harry Jacobs on "The Guiding Light" and Roy Kretchmar in Nickelodeon's "The Adventures of Pete and Pete." His Off-Broadway credits include "Bitter Friends" at the Jewish Rep, "John and Mary" at Westbeth and "Sing America" at the Actors Studio. Donald Symington (the HMO review doctor) has appeared on Broadway in "The King and I" with Yul Brynner, "Mourning Pictures," "Murderous Angels" and "A Girl Can Tell." He can currently be seen as Reverend Sheehan in the film "Man of the Century." His other films include "Annie Hall" (Diane Keaton's father) and "The Front." Ariane Brandt (the daughter) has been featured Off-Broadway in "Brooklyn Trojan Women" and "The Mystery of Anna O." She has acted regionally at Williamstown and Berkshire Theater Festival, among others. Her TV credits include "Law and Order" and CBS and PBS movies. She is a member of the Actor's Studio. Oliver Vaquer (the son) appeared this past season on TV's "Sex and the City." He played Angelo in "Measure for Measure" at Expanded Arts and appeared in the Mint Theaters' production of "Pericles." M.J. Karmi (the wife), a graduate of the Actors Studio MFA acting program at The New School, has appeared widely in regional theater and in productions at Circle in the Square Downtown.
Director Yanna Kroyt-Brandt has, for 30 years, been a leading director, producer and writer of socially-conscious films and TV shows (for both public and commercial TV). She has received nine Emmies, a WGA award, a Peabody, an ACT and numerous other awards. Her "The Nutcracker" with Baryshnikov, originally produced for CBS, has become an annual feature on PBS and the best-selling videocassette in its category. Her "FYI with Hal Linden" won five Emmies in four years. She produced a series of two-hour movies based on true events for American Playhouse that includes "Denmark Vesey's Rebellion" with Yaphet Kotto, Ned Beatty and Donald Moffat. Her stage directing credits include "Benefits of Doubt" by Joe Sutton, "Fifi" at HOME and The Actors Studio, "The Mystery of Anna O" at the John Houseman, "Miriam and Baptiste" and "Double Feature" at the Actors Studio, "Charlie's Wedding Day" at the American Place and Powerhouse Theatre and "At the Bottom," co-directed with Susan Batson, in NY and at the Kampnagel Theatre in Hamburg, Germany.
Set design is by Daniella Galli. Lighting design is by Matthew E. Adelson. Costume design is by Mattie Ulrich. Sound design is by David Wright. [NYTW]
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