Ruhala opens 'Psych Ward'

Thursday, July 21 — What do you get when four teenage girlsare thrown into a psych ward, after proving to be a danger to themselves andsociety? According to Mark Ruhala, the executive director at the RuhalaPerforming Arts Center, you get an eyeful of “the healthy versus the pathological.”

On Thursday, the Ruhala Performing Arts Center presents astaged reading premiere of “Once Upon a…Psych Ward,” a play that explores theunlikely friendship between four young women who are, according to society,psychologically deranged. While it might not be surprising that the girls don’tnecessarily see their disturbances as a problem, their so-called “conditions”are far from generic.

As a staged reading, Ruhala points out that the productionwill lack stage furniture and setting dcor. “Basically it will be four chairs,a table and two music stands,” Ruhala says. “It’s up to the audience toimagine.”
He promises, however, that there will be stage lighting and that the showfeatures four original songs written by the performers.

The play is a result of the center’s Planet Broadwayprogram, which asks performers to “collaborate and create new pieces based onwhat concerns them,” Ruhala says. Heacknowledges that he often does much of the writing and editing, but this time,the performers did it all on their own.
He proudly says that “the scenes flow beautifully” and he “couldn’t beprouder.”
“If you’re interested in fresh new voices and the minds of young people, don’tmiss it,” he says.

'Once Upon a…Psych Ward'
RuhalaPerforming Arts Center
1846 Haslett Rd. East Lansing
7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 21
$10
(517) 337-0464