About the Play:

Flowers for Algernon is a full-length drama adapted for the stage by David Rogers. Based on a sci-fi short story of the same name by Daniel Keyes and subsequent novel, Flowers for Algernon is a play which follows a period in the life of Charlie Gordon, a developmentally delayed man who undergoes a risky surgical procedure that ultimately turns him into a genius. But what are the side-effects? And is the life of a genius all it's cracked up to be? Especially recommended for school and contest use.

Flowers for Algernon is the compelling story of Charlie, a mentally challenged man, and the strange interweaving of his life with that of Algernon, a mouse. Experimental surgery has been performed on Algernon increasing his intelligence fourfold. The operation is tried on Charlie, who rapidly changes from a moron to a genius, far more intelligent than his teacher, Alice Kinnian, or the doctors who created the operating technique. As Charlie approaches the peak of his brilliance, Algernon shows frightening symptoms of regression. The play becomes a race against time in which Charlie tries to keep his new intelligence long enough to save himself and thus continue what he and Alice have found. Flowers for Algernon is a different kind of play: poignant, romantic, funny and tragic, but with hope of man's indomitable spirit.

Flowers for Algernon was later adapted for television as The Two Worlds of Charlie Gordon. Daniel Keyes expanded the short story to a novel, and actor Cliff Robertson, who played the role of Charlie Gordon in the TV version, starred in the motion picture Charly, for which he received the Oscar Award as Best Actor.

Cast: 17 female and 10 male (with doubling, 9 female and 8 male)

What people say:

"Ingeniously touching and intensely real." — The Baltimore Sun

"Convincing, suspenseful, touching … affecting, too. How otherwise explain the tears that come to one's eyes at the end." — New York Times

About the Playwright:

David Rogers (1928-2013) was an American playwright who wrote in all entertainment media from Broadway to Hollywood, from night clubs to grand opera as well as five novels and many short stories. He is the author of over 40 plays (some written under the pseudonym D.D. Brooke). Of his six Broadway shows, he was best known for his 1981 Tony-nominated musical Charlie and Algernon, for which he wrote the book and lyrics.