A time machine; a joke about a “pet” fly; a tearful memory of losing a family member — when Inclusion Theatre Troupe gets together at their rehearsal space in Turners Falls, there’s no telling where the conversation might go.
The topics are as diverse as the members of the group — a 19-year-old brain tumor survivor from Sunderland; a 50-year-old Latina woman with bipolar disorder; the group’s outgoing artistic director from Brazil, who himself struggles with depression.
And that’s the whole point of Inclusion Theatre Troupe. It’s a group for all people of all backgrounds, abilities or disabilities. It’s an outlet for any emotion or creative impulse. There’s only one constant.
“The one thing that is really strong with this group is the belief in theater,” said Alex DeMelo, artistic director at The United Arc, advocacy and support center for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and founder of the Montague-based Inclusion Theatre Troupe.
The Inclusion Theatre Troupe is a nine-member actors’ group that started at the beginning of this year. As a program from The United Arc, many of its members have some sort of disability.
They’ve put on two performances this year at Shea Theater Arts Center — including one at Radical Interconnectedness Festival, promoted by Eggtooth Productions, in April — and recently gathered at their rehearsal space off Avenue A in Turners Falls to reflect on their work so far, as well as their budding friendships.
“It gets me out of the house,” said Bruce Bassett, 50, of Turners Falls, who has muscular dystrophy. “I deeply, deeply want to be a good singer, a good listener. Here, I can (be).”
Inclusion Theatre Troupe is not just a group for people with intellectual disabilities — hence the word “inclusion” in the name — said DeMelo, 56, of Greenfield and originally from Brazil.
DeMelo said the group is for people who are also “abled,” including himself, although he mentioned he struggles with anxiety and depression. He said the group should be like a “family” that welcomes anybody, regardless of their difficulties or situation.
Other members, like Paula Gudell, 59, of Sunderland, joined the group as a disability advocate. Her son, Grayson Gudell, 19, is a brain tumor survivor and a member of the group.
“We like coming because it gives us social opportunities and friendships,” Paula Gudell said. “There’s no other place that people who are maybe not the typical folks can come do this.”
Paula Gudell added that she and her son have been looking for a group for adults that would allow her son to be himself, sing and make friends. There are many such groups for children, but ones for adults are harder to find, she said.
People like the Gudells are who DeMelo always envisioned helping with a theater troupe. DeMelo founded Inclusion Theatre Troupe at the beginning of the year as a synthesis of his two greatest passions — acting and helping others.
Originally an actor in Brazil, DeMelo fell on hard times financially and moved to the United States in 1997 to join the rest of his family and expand his economic opportunities. After working at a few different jobs, he enrolled at Greenfield Community College in 2012 to become a Certified Nursing Assistant. After graduation, DeMelo says he went to work at The United Arc. While there, DeMelo says he had an idea: Combine his experience helping the elderly and people with disabilities with his skills as an actor.
Inclusion Theatre Troupe was born.
“I’ve always had a plan to start a theater,” DeMelo said. “I believe with theater we can change many things, change minds and understand ourselves better. … And it can help anyone, people in jail or have an addiction or are abled or disabled. That’s why I call this Inclusion Theatre Troup. It’s for everybody.”
The majority of the group’s members do have intellectual or developmental disabilities, though. And, for them, their prior performances at Shea Theater Arts Center gave a voice and an audience to their personal struggles.
The performances aren’t what a typical theater troupe might put on. Rather, they’re more of an individual catharsis from each member in succession. At the group’s first performance at Radical Interconnectedness Festival in April at Shea Theater, for example, the actors and actresses sat next to one another in a line of chairs facing the crowd. One-by-one, they stood, introduced themselves, told their story and finished with a small individual performance, oftentimes a song.
Maria Cristine, 50, from Bogota, Colombia, who has bipolar disorder, sang “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” by Madonna; Francis Campbell, 37, a man with Down syndrome from Greenfield, sang “Hero” by Mariah Carey, before telling the crowd he chose the song because he now “loves life,” even though it has been a hard road for him; James McNeil, 57, who has autism, shared his love of science and the idea of time travel, and even presented a “time machine” contraption he had been building for the last two years. Paula Gudell told the story of her family dealing with her son Grayson’s 2001 diagnosis with — and then survival from —a brain tumor.
“We didn’t know what would happen and 450 days in the hospital, after chemotherapy and radiation and meningitis and many operations and many moments of ‘This will come to an end,’ I always prayed and hoped,” Paula Gudell told the crowd. “When he got out of the hospital it was always words like, ‘He’ll never walk,’ or, ‘He’ll never talk,’ and now he’s almost running a mile and he can ride a bike.”
“The worst thing that ever happened to me and my family and my son was really never one of the worst things, it’s really been one of the best things because of the milestones I’ve seen him make,” she added. “It’s been a blessing to be his mother.”
Then, after his mother sat down, Grayson Gudell stood before the audience and sang “I’d Like to Visit the Moon” from “Sesame Street.”
“It was hard,” Paula Gudell later reflected on the performance and speech. “One thing I learned by working with Alex is you can’t lie on stage.”
“Emotionally, it was hard, but it felt good to say it because I lived it,” she added. “And then Grayson came out and shined, and those moments he shines outweigh all the bad stuff.”
Some of the performance was light-hearted, however — at least, it was supposed to be. Bassett, seated in his wheelchair, explained his muscular dystrophy to the audience before talking about a pet fly of his that had recently died. He explained he was going to sing a sad song to commemorate the fly before singing “Who Let the Dogs Out” by the Baha Men.
Of course, the whole thing was a joke. A pet fly? Ridiculous. And “Who Let the Dogs Out” a “sad” song?
But not a person in the audience laughed, perhaps because they thought the whole display was a serious one, especially after following Bassett’s talk about muscular dystrophy. The members of the troupe now laugh about the whole incident — picturing the uncomfortable faces of those sitting in the audience, thinking “Is he kidding or not?”
“I was trying to be funny, but the problem was everybody believed it,” Bassett said with a smile.
Since its inception, the members of the troupe have become a tight-knit group of friends. Christine says they enjoy that their performances, which range from happy to sad to funny, depending on who’s addressing the crowd, are something they do side-by-side to alleviate nervousness.
“I was wanting to do something like this for a while. I love to sing,” Cristine said. “It gives me the freedom to express myself. It’s emotional. It just makes me happy.”
Mark Willoughby, 55, of Greenfield, said he has always been fascinated with theater performances, going all the way back to when he was in “The Three Little Pigs” play as a child.
He has had an itch, a feeling that he wanted to get into a theater troupe, his whole life.
“This has changed my life entirely,” Willoughby said. “It is great to do it with the group.”
“We like to get together and get a feel of what we’re all doing,” he added. “We cry, smile, laugh.”
According to Campbell, being up on stage is a chance for him to entertain others, while also getting things off his own chest.
“It felt like a breath of fresh air,” said Campbell, recalling his “Hero” performance. Campbell said he chose the song because he is his own hero, and it reminds him of his grandfather, who died in Campbell’s arms at the hospital. Despite some tough times, Campbell said he has learned to love himself and his life, and is a hero for that reason.
“I have seen people pass away and die. … It has reflected on me the road that I am on,” he said. “I just want to make people happy.”
The group practices once a week at The United Arc, 294 Avenue A in Turners Falls. Practices are a mixture of deciding what someone might be comfortable singing or doing on stage, rehearsing that performance and sharing stories and personal experiences.
Right now, the group is in the early stages of preparing its next show, titled “Medical Marijuana,” expected to debut in the fall.
“The troupe believes that medical marijuana is a very important discovery which is helping patients to overcome their health challenges,” said DeMelo, adding that the topic should be more emotional and evocative than an originally discussed Halloween-themed performance. To get involved with Inclusion Theatre Troupe at The United Arc, contact Alex DeMelo at 203-947-0695 or usabrazilalex@gmail.com.
David McLellan joined the Greenfield Recorder in February 2018, and covers eastern Franklin County. Reach him at dmclellan@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 268.