Inside Al, a one-act play

After being assigned a service project in school, teens Jason, Beth and Shannon all decided to focus their efforts on Al Willson, a local man with cerebral palsy. Their efforts irritate and even anger Al, who is represented onstage by two actors: one playing the person everybody sees and another playing his true self (his “inside”).

“Inside Al” premiered in the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., the winner of the Henry Fonda Young Playwrights Project, a contest sponsored  by the Very Special Arts. The play was chosen by a selection committee including Roger L. Stevens (chairman of the Kennedy Center), Jack Hofsiss (Broadway director and producer of “The Elephant Man”), Shirlee Fonda, Jane Fonda, Peter Stone (president of the council of the Dramatists Guild), Wendy Wasserstein (playwright of “Isn’t It Romantic” and “The Heidi Chronicles”) and Fred Zollo (producer of “‘Night Mother” and “Hurlyburly”).

The central character of “Inside Al” is loosely based on the real-life Ralph Hughey, a long-time resident and (almost) mascot of the North Shore, Oahu, town of Laie. Ralph died in his sleep just weeks before the Honolulu premiere of the play. “Inside Al” is dedicated to his memory.

Since publication by Samuel French, “Inside Al” has been produced hundreds of times across the United States and Canada.