The Highlight of Saturday?
High point of the workshop on Saturday at the Science Centre?
For me, it came as our surprise guest, Patrick McKenna, and Michelle, an eager volunteer from the audience, performed the radio ‘soap opera’ about how Opposites Attract.
They played a married couple struggling with his undiagnosed and untreated ADHD.
All the laugh lines got laughs and I was quite enjoying it. (My part was to make sound effects and hum mood music as the story unfolded.)
Then from the mid-point on, they went into the back and forth. Righting. Anger, blame and frustration. The theatre became very still and quiet. At first I thought something was wrong… then I realized it was resonating.
You could hear a pin drop.
Dr. Jain had created the script, based on his work with hundreds of patients. Talk about striking a nerve!
After the workshop several guys came up, shook their heads ruefully and admitted, “Every line in that scene was something I’ve said to my wife or she has said to me.” Some wives were there, and confirmed it. Others wished their wives had been there.
Since then, in the Forums and in E-mails to our Info account Ava has been hearing how many people were fighting back tears. A few stopped fighting and simply let them flow.
The skit had a happy ending. Or at least a hopeful one. And Patrick and Michelle got huge applause. But Kudos to Dr. Jain as well.
By the way, for those who asked after the Workshop, and for those who were turned away at the door, “Yes, we will be doing the ‘Now What’ workshop again as soon as we can arrange it.”
And ideally we want to take it on the road. (Is Vaudeville still around?)
6 Responses to “The Highlight of Saturday?”
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I would REALLY like to see a video of that. I’m trying to engage my wife in some serious discussions about this, and I think it would help.
It would be really cool to see a version of “Opposites Attract” online. Any chance of that? Or, perhaps you could charge a fee for a webcast of the next wokshop – you’d reach more people.
Hey Rick,
Are those Sunday workshops going to happen? I keep compulsively checking “Events” for it, but i don’t see it yet. I might just explode from the anticipation.
Are you guys still coming to Calgary, I really want to attend..
I saw it was being put off I think
could you please let me know
Yes, Rick, vaudeville is still around. However, it usually shares a stage with burlesque, and I’m not sure audiences (especially those with ADHD) could stay focused on your presentation, when there are ladies clad in rhinestones, sequins, and feathers in the room.
I was there and too was holding back the tears. When I got home, the first thing I did was apologize to my wife. As frustrating as this is for me, seeing that clearly showed what it looks like from the other perspective. Of course this works both ways. My wife would have a much better understanding of my/our perspective.
Is there anyway that I could persuade you to post the script of that?