Red, green and blue are not just colors of the rainbow – they’re also used in art therapy to communicate feelings, as seen in “The Yellow Boat,” a play set in the ’80s and based on the true account of David Saar and his wife Sonja’s 8-year-old son, Benjamin, who lives with a colorful outlook on life despite coping with congenital hemophilia and AIDS-related complications which came by way of a blood transfusion in 1985.
It is a story of the disconnect between doctors and therapists in the 1980s, but it manages to bring to life a new kind of understanding between patients and caregivers through the medium of visual art.
“The theme of the play is not so much AIDS-related as it is about the healing power of art,” said Kristy Grimes, public relations liaison for Half Moon Theatre, the company producing the show at the James Earl Jones Theatre at Poughkeepsie Day School through this weekend.
Several of the Half Moon Theatre company members have worked closely with art therapy in their own lives, which has helped with the process of assimilating the information into their character.
“I’ve done it for mental health in teaching acting, which was very interesting with the kind of effect it had, but nothing like this,” said Neil Worden, who plays David in the show and is an assistant professor of drama at Vassar College.
Worden spoke about his own encounters with friends dying from AIDS in the mid-’80s.
“AIDS was everywhere and discussed as the plague,” he said. “The effect it had on us is the fear demonstrated in the play, and I also saw the kind of stigmatism and nastiness response that we don’t see in the same way today.”
Artistic Director Margo Whitcomb, one of the founding members of Half Moon Theatre, said her art therapy background combined with theatre has proven effective.
“I worked for two years in a theatre company in San Francisco, but mostly with women from social services, many with HIV/AIDS, almost all with multiple personality disorders ... and drama was extremely effective,” she said.
Living for the moment is one of the messages the show tries to convey, knowing there is always a bright side to life when faced with challenges.
“This play is about the profoundness of living with the time we have,” said Felix Steiny, a drama student at Vassar College who plays young Benjamin.
“The art of Benjamin’s imagination brings us to a new level of thinking,” said Worden.
The reaction from the audience – some were brought to tears – was a tribute to the power of the show.
“It was wonderful. We saw “Spain,” “Cinderella,” and now this, and I just think it’s amazing how you (the company) tackle such diverse plays,” said audience member MaryBeth Kaminsky.
On Thursday, Feb. 21, after the Beat’s press time, Half Moon also hosted a post-performance community discussion with a panel of health care and arts experts.
“We are expecting over 100 staff members from Vassar Brothers Hospital, as well as members of the political, business and education communities,” said Grimes.
Honorary guests included Dr. Daniel Aronzon, president of Vassar Brothers Hospital, which recently created the “Arts For Healing” program, a pediatric art therapy initiative that works with chronically ill children and their families, in conjunction with Mill Street Loft.
American Indian artist and healer Joan Henry, program director for “Project Aware,” a Mill Street Loft initiative which helps empower adolescent women through the arts, will participate on the panel. Judy Lyons, a supervising public health nurse of communicable diseases, will serve as an expert on AIDS and communicable diseases. More than 600 City of Poughkeepsie middle school students are also expected in attendance for the matinee series this week.
The play is being performed across the country by different theatre companies.
Future show dates at Poughkeepsie Day School, 260 Boardman Rd., include Friday, Feb. 22 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 23 at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 24, at 3 p.m.
Ticket prices range from $10 to $25. For more information, visit halfmoontheatre.org or call 235-9885.