Debra Monk Adds Another Loopy Character to Her Collection

Performers

The Tony winner goes on a dysfunctional family road trip in Amy and the Orphans

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“He’d been telling me about it for a while because he was really excited,” Monk recalls. Then last summer, Ellis invited her to play the part of Maggie in a staged reading of the show at Vassar. “She’s complicated and slightly crazy,” Monk says of her character. “In the script, she’s described as ‘unspooled and unspooling,’ and I thought, that alone is a great thing for an actor to have! I love that she’s so self-absorbed and neurotic, and yet there is a real longing for human contact and family.”

But she was so taken with Ferrentino’s play, she found time to fit it into her busy schedule. “I just thought it was incredible,” she says. “Scott told me that Lindsey’s aunt had Down syndrome, and then she met Jamie [who also has the condition], and then she wrote the play. And when I met Jamie I thought, well of course she wrote the play for her, because she’s a little firecracker! She’s smart. She has an innocent kind of confidence and joy, which is just lovely to see. And she really, really cares about being an advocate for others with Down syndrome.”

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“I’ve done many, many, many, many dramas,” says Monk, who turns 69 this month. “I did Picnic [also directed by Ellis]. I feel I’ve had a pretty well-rounded career, actually.” Yet even her most serious parts tend to make use of her crack comic timing. While Amy and the Orphans has some very disturbing revelations, Monk still has many humorous moments, starting with her wailing, “We’re orphans!” to her 60-year-old brother as they plan their father’s funeral. And Maggie’s account of her own brush with a possibly catastrophic condition (no spoilers) is the show’s hilarious high point.

But whether she’s in a comedy or drama, musical or play, onscreen or onstage, Monk insists she approaches all parts the same way. “It’s all about being honest and true and trying to find the reality and how to tell the story,” she says. “Whether they’re funny or they’re tragic or they’re singing or they’re dancing or whatever the hell they’re doing, there has to be some reality to it.”

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TDF MEMBERS: At press time, discount tickets were available for Amy and the Orphans. Go here to browse our current offers.

Sandy MacDonald is a theatre critic who contributes to Time Out New York. Follow her at @sandymacdonald. Follow TDF at @TDFNYC.

Top image: Vanessa Aspillaga, Jamie Brewer, Debra Monk, and Mark Blum in Amy and the Orphans. Photos by Joan Marcus.

Sandy MacDonald is a theatre critic and Drama Desk member currently contributing to New York Stage Review, among other outlets. Follow her at @sandymacdonald.