Theater Just a Normal Guy Poignant, provocative one-man performance has Houston premiere at DiverseWorks

What do an eight-year-old boy who witnesses a life-altering tragedy, a Southern Junior Leaguer who yearns for romances past, and a rootin' tootin' cowboy who needs anger management classes right quick have in common?

All three are the creations of openly gay writer/actor Randall White. More important, they are three of the 11 funny and poignant individuals that White introduces us to in his show who have forever lost their innocence, yet somehow managed to salvage a chunk of dignity from the wreckage nevertheless.

"I believe Normal nudges the audience to examine such issues as hope, prejudice, and personal freedom Š many times without their realizing it," White says. "It's also a chance for me to get a few things off of my chest when it comes to how we need to challenge conventional wisdom so much more often than we do."

Prior to 1985, White studied and pursued an acting and writing career. But he left the theater world for a 12-year-long career in nonprofit management.

The death of his partner in 1997 from multiple myeloma, and a cancer diagnosis of his own that same year, shifted his priorities.

"Writing and performing is what I always thought I would do for a living, until I allowed myself to become derailed by the expectations of others," White says. "One of the themes of Normal is how we can let ourselves be controlled by the voices of others and how important it is for us to turn those voices off.

"Creating and performing Normal is, in essence, my professional return to 'normal.'"

Using only chairs as props, White dons the personalities of 11 characters whose stories are as rich and varied as the set is simple and spare. A lesbian landscaper gives a testimony at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, giving us a peek at the sensitive human being beneath the sarcastic shell. A Protestant minister delivers a heartfelt sermon he realizes will most likely be his last before the congregation. A quadriplegic shows the audience that it is never too late to let one's spirit take flight.

"My characters not only make audience members laugh and cry, they also make them gulp and squirm," White says. "I tell people to leave Aunt Esther at home, for this ain't no Neil Simon play.

"Normal provides all of us-gay, straight, Hispanic, African American, disabled, fully-abled, misanthropic, or just misunderstood-the opportunity to take a good hard look at how we look at one another," he says. "And I want all of us to understand that if we feel just a few steps to the left or right of 'normal,'

Performance Information

What: Normal

When: March 13, 14, 15, 21, 22 at 8 p.m., March 23 at 3 p.m.

Where: DiverseWorks Art Space, 1117 East Frwy, I-10 at N. Main

Tickets: $12 (Thu/Sun) plus tax or $16 (Fri/Sat) plus tax if purchased online at www.normaltheplay.com. Tickets are $15 (Thu/Sun) plus tax or $20 (Fri/Sat) plus tax if purchased at the door or by phone. Call, toll-free, 1-877-946-9997. No additional handling charges.

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