photo by Bay McCulloch
Before you take your seats,
Please take an index card & ASK A QUESTION YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN TOO SCARED TO ASK &/OR CONFESS A SECRET YOU SWORE YOU WOULD TAKE TO THE GRAVE Leave index cards in the fish bowl |
/a.dick.ted/;
OR, learning to breathe underwater; a ritual of lemons. also known as, I love you, I hate you, shut up & tell me everything! [a mostly-true entirely-honest tale of recovery] A SOLO PUNK ROCK EPIC POEM Written & Performed by Teddy Lytle (he/him)
Directed by Harmon dot aut (she/they) Featuring Bay McCulloch (she/her) When you can’t remember the single most important event that profoundly changed your life, do you stand a chance at changing for the better? More than a concert, less than a play; a disjointed collection of true events in a semi-interactive multimedia exploration of mental illness, addiction, recovery, and superheroes.
[Approximate runtime 60 min] [explicit language and themes related to sex, self harm, alcoholism, drug use, & suicide] 
photo by Lisa Lytle
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Artist Statement: Community is the antithesis to addiction; a disease that thrives on the belief that you are alone. If I’ve learned anything during my ongoing journey through addiction and recovery (and recovery and recovery), I’ve learned this; the truth is anything but.
I first moved to Rhode Island in 2015 in pursuit of my MFA in Acting from Brown University Trinity Rep. Three weeks before that, I woke up handcuffed to a hospital bed with a neck brace on. That is to say, my higher learning and struggles with mental health became inexorably intertwined. Perhaps driven by a will to survive, I became obsessed with the intersection of crazy and creativity; how did my mental illness contribute to my desire to make art?
As my colleagues prepared to tackle show business in NYC or LA, I planned on staying in RI, loudly proclaiming I was unwilling to lose the community of recovery I had hard earned, and quietly confessing that I didn’t feel there was space for my particular brand of mental illness in the performing arts industrial complex.
I wrote what became the show's first iteration “/a.dick.ted/;OR, learning to breathe underwater” as a thesis for my MFA in 2019 and perhaps a not so subtle apology to my academic community. At the time, I had no intention of developing it further, but after I graduated I found myself unsatisfied with it; it felt incomplete. I wanted to know if this story could be made interesting for a group of total strangers. I was given the opportunity to mount the first public production in February 2020 with The Wilbury Theatre Group.
Amidst the calamity of the remainder of 2020, I continued experimenting with variations of a theme, submitting pieces to fringe-festivals, open mic nights, poetry readings. Believe it or not, over that time and the personal gains, relapses, hospitalizations, misdiagnosis, medications, a pandemic or two, school shootings, a better diagnosis, rising suicide rates, opiate epidemics, I learned some valuable lessons. Almost exactly three years later, I mounted a fully realized production.
This is a show; a solo autobiographical show; a true story that features music, poetry, superheroes, Alzheimers, anecdotes navigating early recovery and water buckets; a show that gently asks the audience to participate because they already are. It is my hope that this show probes the simple truth; whoever you are, you are not alone.
I’m not sharing my story to blame anyone or to educate people or help anyone; it’s a selfish act. This is my story. And I survived it. This is my way of reclaiming my life. If, on the other hand, my story does help someone, it might just be the most important thing I ever do.
-Teddy Lytle
I first moved to Rhode Island in 2015 in pursuit of my MFA in Acting from Brown University Trinity Rep. Three weeks before that, I woke up handcuffed to a hospital bed with a neck brace on. That is to say, my higher learning and struggles with mental health became inexorably intertwined. Perhaps driven by a will to survive, I became obsessed with the intersection of crazy and creativity; how did my mental illness contribute to my desire to make art?
As my colleagues prepared to tackle show business in NYC or LA, I planned on staying in RI, loudly proclaiming I was unwilling to lose the community of recovery I had hard earned, and quietly confessing that I didn’t feel there was space for my particular brand of mental illness in the performing arts industrial complex.
I wrote what became the show's first iteration “/a.dick.ted/;OR, learning to breathe underwater” as a thesis for my MFA in 2019 and perhaps a not so subtle apology to my academic community. At the time, I had no intention of developing it further, but after I graduated I found myself unsatisfied with it; it felt incomplete. I wanted to know if this story could be made interesting for a group of total strangers. I was given the opportunity to mount the first public production in February 2020 with The Wilbury Theatre Group.
Amidst the calamity of the remainder of 2020, I continued experimenting with variations of a theme, submitting pieces to fringe-festivals, open mic nights, poetry readings. Believe it or not, over that time and the personal gains, relapses, hospitalizations, misdiagnosis, medications, a pandemic or two, school shootings, a better diagnosis, rising suicide rates, opiate epidemics, I learned some valuable lessons. Almost exactly three years later, I mounted a fully realized production.
This is a show; a solo autobiographical show; a true story that features music, poetry, superheroes, Alzheimers, anecdotes navigating early recovery and water buckets; a show that gently asks the audience to participate because they already are. It is my hope that this show probes the simple truth; whoever you are, you are not alone.
I’m not sharing my story to blame anyone or to educate people or help anyone; it’s a selfish act. This is my story. And I survived it. This is my way of reclaiming my life. If, on the other hand, my story does help someone, it might just be the most important thing I ever do.
-Teddy Lytle
photo by Erin X. Smithers courtesy of The Wilbury Theatre Group
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photo by Erin X. Smithers courtesy of The Wilbury Theatre Group
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Reviews
BROADWAY WORLD: Wilbury mounts Trenchant, stylish, (mostly) one-man show
with music about addiction and recovery: By John McDaid [February 26th 2023]
“Magical thinking, superhero fantasies, blackouts, remorse, run-ins with the law -- yes, you'll want to strap in for this nature hike through addiction and recovery…
“…What saves it from being yet another theatrical exercise at "humanizing addiction" is the brutally honest, self-revelatory script and Lytle's earnest, winning performance. It is intensely physical and dialed up to 11 throughout.”
“…Lytle has clearly learned important lessons from his journey, and he is willing to stand up and put them on stage. This is a bracing, absorbing theatrical experience that doesn't shy away from its message, but delivers it with brutal honesty and style.”
MOTIF MAGAZINE: /A.DICK.TED/ by Allison O’Donnell [March 3rd 2023]
“...Lytle, a force to be reckoned with... ...is raw to the core, and maybe cathartic...”
“...this sometimes funny, sometimes very poignant depiction of what happens when you mix a host of dependencies with ADHD and the ensuing lunacy of a self-medicated addictive OCD personality. Yeah. Bring tissues.”
EDGE MEDIA NETWORK: Providence Fringe Festival Kicked Off with a Bang by Will Demers [July 27 2021]
“...Lytle opens with an expository song, and launches into an exploration of childhood, relationships and alcoholism/drug abuse. Lytle frankly opens his heart and mouth about subjects many would leave in the back of their minds: Borderline personality disorder, alcoholism, and sexuality…”
“…this is more than laying bare one's soul; it's a rough, frank, curse-laden exposition of humanity and its frailties… …Brilliantly executed, even while reading questions from the audience off of notecards, he never seems false.”
with music about addiction and recovery: By John McDaid [February 26th 2023]
“Magical thinking, superhero fantasies, blackouts, remorse, run-ins with the law -- yes, you'll want to strap in for this nature hike through addiction and recovery…
“…What saves it from being yet another theatrical exercise at "humanizing addiction" is the brutally honest, self-revelatory script and Lytle's earnest, winning performance. It is intensely physical and dialed up to 11 throughout.”
“…Lytle has clearly learned important lessons from his journey, and he is willing to stand up and put them on stage. This is a bracing, absorbing theatrical experience that doesn't shy away from its message, but delivers it with brutal honesty and style.”
MOTIF MAGAZINE: /A.DICK.TED/ by Allison O’Donnell [March 3rd 2023]
“...Lytle, a force to be reckoned with... ...is raw to the core, and maybe cathartic...”
“...this sometimes funny, sometimes very poignant depiction of what happens when you mix a host of dependencies with ADHD and the ensuing lunacy of a self-medicated addictive OCD personality. Yeah. Bring tissues.”
EDGE MEDIA NETWORK: Providence Fringe Festival Kicked Off with a Bang by Will Demers [July 27 2021]
“...Lytle opens with an expository song, and launches into an exploration of childhood, relationships and alcoholism/drug abuse. Lytle frankly opens his heart and mouth about subjects many would leave in the back of their minds: Borderline personality disorder, alcoholism, and sexuality…”
“…this is more than laying bare one's soul; it's a rough, frank, curse-laden exposition of humanity and its frailties… …Brilliantly executed, even while reading questions from the audience off of notecards, he never seems false.”
History
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