A Teacher in the House: Heavy Subjects, Well Taught
A Teacher in the House
Susan Jeremy delivers a delightful one woman show A Teacher in the House (co-written and performed by Susan Jeremy, co-written and directed by Mary Fulham) about a New York City home teacher. This is an autobiographical piece and it includes confessions of dyslexia and an intimate look at breast cancer. Although the illness might have been a bit heavy as the subject for this play, Jeremy has added enough shtick and humour to make all this very palatable and a lot of fun.
The script works on several levels and the story is engaging. Jeremy uses all the space on the stage and is comfortable in her transformation from persona to persona. I particularly enjoyed her Latino family and felt at home with New York cop. The play is fast paced and well directed, and at no time is there any sentimentalism or schmaltz.
A Teacher in the House
During the post play Q and A other women survivors in the audience responded warmly to Susan Jeremy’s key message; you can go through this horrific experience and use it to benefit children with special needs and to top it off you can tell the story. Jeremy went to the New York board of education and was hired to teach in the homes of children who were in the process of receiving dialysis and chemotherapy, or who had other afflictions which prevented them from going to school. Her initiative paid off and the play has some truly heart warming moments. It is worth going to see.
A Teacher in the House continues until Sunday May 1 at the Piccolo Rialto (5711 Park Ave). Contact the box office at 514 770-7773 for tickets.
