Mentally retarded people-those with subnormal intelligence, whatever the cause-are an integral part of the lives of many of us, myself included. Fortunately, our society is increasingly sensitive to "otherness," a concern reflected in film, TV, and theatre. More (and more fully developed) characters with diminished mental capacity are showing up. In 1968, Cliff Robertson played a retarded man in the film Charly (based on the short story Flowers for Algernon). Later, Larry Drake was Benny in the TV series L.A. Law, with Amanda Plummer as his retarded girlfriend; Dustin Hoffman was the autistic Raymond in Rain Man; Tom Hanks was Forrest Gump, and so on. Currently Juliette Lewis can be seen in The Other Sister, and forthcoming is Elisabeth Shue in Molly.
At the Hollywood Court Theatre, Crescent Players is currently staging The Boys Next Door, Tom Griffin's 1986 play about a group of retarded adults setting up house together in an attempt to mainstream into society. (It was made into a TV movie in 1996 with Nathan Lane and Mare Winningham.) The cast spent some time with residents of the Burbank Center of the Retarded, going bowling, attending dances, and just hanging out. I called co-producer/actor Grinnell Morris, who grew up with a severely mentally disabled sister, to find out what they learned and how he created his character.
A few generalizations apply to many mentally retarded people and provide opportunities for actors to make creative and varied choices:
1. Some know they are retarded, others don't, depending on their level of retardation.
2. Their preoccupations are usually specific and simple. For Morris' sister, they are food, dogs, and music: "When are we going to eat? When are we going to see a dog?" For Morris' character, Norman, who's mid-range retarded, he chose keys ("because they make me important"), donuts (Norman works in a donut shop), and his girlfriend, Sheila.
3. They may have some distortion with their mouth that causes them to slur their words. For some, it's a mental barrier; for others, it's at least partly physical-their hard or soft palates may be misshapen. "You never want to play the impediment; you want to overcome it," cautioned Morris. "If I loosen my jaw and then try to speak clearly, that's the most I can do."
4. Many have various physical disabilities and ailments. Also, good posture is not a high priority for them.
5. They usually physicalize more impulsively than do those with normal mental capacity. "Expression coming out through the extremities is common," said Morris. "They may clench their hands, flick their fingers-nerves and tension are not repressed."
6. Although Down Syndrome has a distinctive look, many other types of retarded people look "normal."
Said Morris, "It's a matter of first understanding retardation as a whole and what that means in a very holistic way, from the inside, before layering on the mannerisms. Then making it specific. What makes Norman Norman and not just a generic retarded person?"
One thing to keep in mind: You don't want to play your character as insensitive or crazy. Mentally handicapped people have the exact same feelings and needs as anyone else; they just have a different way of expressing themselves, and a harder time communicating. You may need to take an unfamiliar approach to justifying your lines.
"As actors, we say, Why am I saying this?" noted Morris. "But retarded people don't necessarily get motivated the same way we do. Norman has a line: "This is a good song. It's got a beat. I wouldn't go to no dance where they didn't have popcorn.' For Norman there's no transition. If he's excited about one thing, he just goes right on to the next thing he's excited about. It's about trying to justify the behavior but not necessarily understanding it on a logical level."
Conversely, there are times when you want to take extra-slow transitions, because your character can't think very fast.
Not So Different
In The Boys Next Door, co-producer William Dennis Hurley plays Arnold, whom he describes as marginally retarded with a depressive personality. Hurley did just what he does with any character: He looked for qualities in himself that matched Arnold's.
"He's hyperactive, a compulsive chatterer, a ringleader," he said. "I'm definitely a ringleader. Like Arnold, I always want to know what's going on, what others are thinking. I found out what parts of me I could bring to a non-normal-functioning character."
He also made sure he understood what was wrong with Arnold clinically and therefore what Arnold's limitations and possibilities would be. The challenge, he said, was finding appropriate forms of expression.
"I had to question everything: Would I pick up the book this way? Would I go into the bedroom like that? At the beginning, there's incredibly close analysis of the behavior to be sure it's truthful to the mental capacity."
Such intense scrutiny can make it hard for an actor to be present in the moment in rehearsals, so at a certain point Hurley gave over that function to the director, Ted Brunetti.
"Basically, you play a retarded character the same way you'd play a character with an accent, or an impediment of some kind," he said. "You learn it, you let it be second nature, then you stop thinking about it. You establish the issues and then proceed as if they weren't issues."
Simple Distinctions
San Francisco actor Stephanie Hunt, who played the slightly retarded Rose Mundy in Dancing at Lughnasa at Berkeley Repertory Theatre several years ago, made the decision, after consulting medical dictionaries, that her character had suffered oxygen deprivation at birth. She spent some time at a center where mentally handicapped people worked, visited a woman and her retarded sister, and went to the mall with a teenager and her retarded friend.
"They lent me her diary, so I got to see her repetitive thoughts," Stephanie said. "The director told me to watch children, but there's something different [with Rose]. I felt Rose had a gleam in her eye. She had secrets." She added, "It's like any role. You always have to think, What does that character want and how do they get it?"
Rose, being only slightly retarded-playwright Brian Friel made a point of describing her as "simple"-has the ability to dissemble. For other retarded characters, this might not be true. As Morris said, "One of the most refreshing things about retarded people is that there are no games. Even if they're trying to manipulate a situation, you can see so clearly what they're doing."
All three actors mentioned the particular joy of playing mentally handicapped characters. "Everyone at some point in their career should try it, even just a scene in acting class," said Morris. "It's very liberating."
A final comment: I believe that producers and directors have a responsibility to look for physically handicapped actors when roles call for such handicaps. Should the same ethic apply when casting the mentally impaired? A few years ago, the TV series Life Goes On hired Chris Burke, a mildly retarded actor, for a major role. Burke's acting skills weren't up to the level of the rest of the cast, but audiences liked the verisimilitude. But I agree with Grinnell Morris, who thinks the best way we can get insight into retarded people is to see really good actors portray them. BSW
"The Boys Next Door" runs through May 9 at the Hollywood Court Theatre in Hollywood. For information, call (323) 565-7640.