The Philadelphia Theatre Company ends its season with “The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey,” a one-man show written and performed by LGBT activist James Lecesne. The production is based on Lecesne’s acclaimed young-adult novel about the effect a gay teen’s disappearance has on his community.
Lecesne is also known for writing the screenplay for the short film “Trevor,” which won an Academy Award and inspired the founding of The Trevor Project, the only nationwide 24-hour suicide-prevention and crisis-intervention lifeline for LGBT youth.
In “The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey,” Lecesne portrays nearly a dozen personalities and voices of people who share the life of Leonard, including the detective assigned to investigate his disappearance. Together they form a portrait of a town, which has been unexpectedly inspired by Leonard — a process that makes the characters question how they live, who they accept and what they leave behind.
Lecesne said that playing all the characters is a lot of work but it makes the show more creative from the audience’s perspective.
“It’s hard work doing eight shows a week,” he said. “It’s also such fun. One of the things that I get to do is corrupt the brains and imaginations of the audience. In some sense, they become my partner because so much of what’s happening is happening in their imaginations. I’m giving them the prompt to use their brains as the set designer and the costume designer. People seem to be really into it. They like that sort of thing. It’s a different kind of theater than the kind that gives you all the sets and costumes and doo-dads that theater has to offer. But this kind of theater, it becomes interactive almost.”
Lecesne said the Leonard story isn’t based on anyone in particular, but the book and the play are reflective of his experiences as an activist.
“I could have just based the story on stuff I made up but I was influenced by lots of things that have happened in the world and my experiences as the cofounder of The Trevor Project,” he said. “I’m obviously aware of what happens in the world of young people. Part of it was that I just wanted to address some of the issues that I saw even back then. We encourage young people to be themselves and at the same time sort of keep an eye on them and make them aware of some of the real dangers that are in the world.”
A national spotlight was shone on LGBT youth bullying in 2010 and 2011 as the media, in particular, became aware of a spate of LGBT teen suicides, Lecesne noted, which also fueled his work.
“I thought maybe there was an opportunity to not only speak to young adults but adults as well, and talk about some of these issues. That’s when I adapted the book into a solo show that I could travel around and do.”
Lecesne said that adapting the book to a one-man show has expanded the audience for his message.
“It has a kind of special resonance for young people,” he said. “They really get it and some feel very connected to the story emotionally, in terms of its theme. [The show] has widened the audience that I have been able to reach in terms of this particular issue, which involves not just LGBT kids but all of us. How do we live in a more diverse and accepting society? How do we value people that are on the margins and who may not be immediately seen as valuable?”
While the story centers on Leonard, he is one character Lecesne doesn’t take on.
His absence makes his story more real to both the other characters and the audience, Lecesne said.
“They begin to realize the value that he brought to them, their individual lives and the community, in term of allowing them to be themselves,” he said. “The more that I’m myself, the more other people feel free to be themselves. It’s sort of contagious, especially now. We need more encouragement to be fully ourselves. In some ways, people have told me, [Leonard] is the most vivid character of all of them because he’s so conjured by the people in the town as they talk about him and their efforts to locate him. His sort-of ghostly presence is in some ways more telling than his real presence because he’s very much alive in the imagination of the audience.”
Lecesne said he hopes the adults who see his show will be inspired to recognize the value of the young people in their lives.
“So many of the kids that we talk to through The Trevor Project, they are just out there alone without eyes on them,” he said. “And I think that is just crazy that kids that are going through this very difficult period have not that much support out there. Sometimes the kids are feeling outside and alone. One of the things that people have told me that they came away with is a deeper appreciation of diversity and how those aspects enrich our lives.
“I hope [audiences] have a good time,” he added, “because it’s funny even though it’s about a very serious topic. People seem to have a good time.”
Lecesne said that while performing “Absolute Brightness” is taking up a lot of his energy, he still finds time to work on a new book and his activism.
“I’m always cooking up something,” he said. “One of the things I’ve been doing is to be able to spend as much time with young people in the schools and visiting [gay-straight alliances] that are in the schools and hearing from them about what their concerns are. One of the things you find out is every generation is so different; they have such amazing new information about the future because they’re going to be the ones that are making it. I’m really curious about that and gathering information from them about what their concerns are, and also how I might be able to help them express some of that in public.”
The Philadelphia Theatre Company presents “The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey” May 17-June 4 at Suzanne Roberts Theatre, 480 S. Broad St. For more information or tickets, call 215-985-0420 or visit http://absolutebrightnessplay.com.