Robert Krakovski (left) as Bill W. and Patrick Housted (right) as Dr. Bob

June 10, 2006

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS ALWAYS ABOUT CAMARADERIE
PLAY RE-CREATES HOW A.A. BEGAN SHOW TO HEAD FOR NEW YORK TO TELL TALE LITTLE KNOWN OUTSIDE AKRON AREA

Bob Dyer
Beacon Journal staff writer

Now here's a twist: A play opens in Boston to rave reviews, selling out a five-week run, then moves to . . . Akron?

In truth, we're getting only part of the play -- a 23-minute excerpt from a 2 1/2-hour production. But the price is right (free) and the setting is more than right.

Bill W. and Dr. Bob is being staged under a small tent only 50 yards from the Stan Hywet Gate Lodge, where Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith founded Alcoholics Anonymous 71 years ago.

The excerpt centers on their first meeting, a six-hour outpouring of emotional agony and newfound camaraderie that led to the formation of a group that has had international impact.

Three performances were staged Friday, and five more will be offered today (at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 p.m.). Next stop: an off-Broadway theater this fall.

Why here and why now? It's Founders Day Weekend, the annual bash to which recovering alcoholics from all over the United States come to take part in various activities and visit Dr. Bob's old house on Ardmore Avenue.

Many Akron residents know the basic story of how A.A.'s founders came together at the behest of Henrietta Seiberling. But the tale is still largely unknown elsewhere, and that's what intrigued director Rick Lombardo, whose Boston theater mounted the play this winter.

"It's one of the real success stories in Americana," Lombardo said.

Lombardo's resume includes a four-year stint with the Players Guild of Canton in the early 1990s. But that's just coincidence. The play ended up in Akron because a member of the Stan Hywet board of directors saw it in Boston and thought it would be perfect for Founders Day.

It was, according to the early reviews.

Most of the theatergoers arrived on motorcycles on a cool, partly cloudy afternoon with stiff breezes that occasionally bothered the actors' microphones. About 50 people, many wearing riding leathers, sat rapt as the initial meeting was re-created.

Some spectators teared up, hearing their own stories mirrored in the tales of Bill, the New York stockbroker, and Bob, the shy local physician.

As the actors hammered home their main theme -- doctors, shrinks and preachers may help, but the only person who can really help a drunk is another drunk -- many spectators nodded their agreement. A standing ovation greeted the conclusion.

Although the dialogue is fictional (Bill W. and Dr. Bob never talked much about their initial meeting), the play clearly struck a universal chord in an audience made up mainly of people who have been fighting the same demons.

"It was outstanding," said Teresa P. of Dayton, who caught Friday's 3 p.m. performance with her friend, Tammy R.

"I'd go to New York to see the play. Anyone who is in 'the program' would definitely understand it. There's strength in numbers."

"And hope," chimed in her friend.

The full play, staged in February and March in Boston's 400-seat New Repertory Theatre, involves six actors. The local version is limited to the two principals.

Patrick Huston plays the 55-year-old doctor, and Robert Krakovski portrays the 39-year-old stockbroker.

In a post-play discussion with the audience, the two said neither of them has been part of Alcoholics Anonymous, but both have attended A.A. meetings to get a better feel for the dynamics.

Bill W. and Dr. Bob will open in New York February 16, 2007 at New World Stages,
Stage 2.

The Gatehouse at Stan Hywet Hall.

Copyright (c) 2006 Akron Beacon Journal
Reprinted by permission.

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