In that sad little circle of social-media hell reserved for the compulsively indignant, some bloggers have been decrying the fact that apparently able-bodied actors Eddie Redmayne and Julianne Moore won Oscars Sunday for playing disabled characters—Redmayne for impersonating ALS-afflicted Stephen Hawking, Moore for pretending to be a woman with early-onset dementia. “You know who would be remarkable at transforming themselves into disabled people? Of really getting into the mind of someone in that situation and understanding their motivations?” wrote Amy Stockwell of Mamamia Women’s Network, her scorn outstripping her syntax. “Yep, people with a disability.”
It’s during one such presentation that Julianna gets the first figurative kick in the head suggesting that her own synapses may be misfiring. She insists that she’s got a tumor, but that may be wishful thinking of a sort, since brain cancer is at least theoretically survivable whereas Alzheimer’s isn’t. The rather too perfect fact is that Julianna suffers from the very disease she’s been trying to cure.
Through 4/5: Thu-Fri 8 PM, Sat 5 and 8 PM, Sun 7 PM Profiles Theatre, Main Stage 4139 N. Broadway 773-549-1815profilestheatre.org $30-$40
