Marsh Presents CONFESSIONS OF A REFRIGERATOR MOTHER 4/2-25

The Marsh, a breeding ground for new performance, is pleased to present Carolyn Doyle's CONFESSIONS OF A REFRIGERATOR MOTHER, an exploration of a day-in-the-life of her nine-year-old son, Joaquin, as she and her family navigate the complex world of autism. It's a touching, often funny and deeply honest portrait of her husband, their daughter and their son with special needs. Since April is Autism Awareness Month, Doyle will be raising funds for four different organizations during the show: Support For Families, the ABC School, Easter Seals and The Arc San Francisco.

Directed by Susan E. Evans, the show plays Thursday through Saturday at 8:00 pm from April 2 - April 25, 2009 (press opening: April 2) at The Marsh, 1062 Valencia Street. For tickets, the public may call Brown Paper Tickets at 800-838-3006 or visit www.themarsh.org.

The term ‘refrigerator mother' coined in the 1940s, was based on the assumption that autistic behaviors stem from the emotional frigidity of the children's' mothers. In a 1960 Time Magazine interview, Leo Kanner, the Austrian physician who is considered the "father" of child psychiatry, and who is the originator of this theory, bluntly described such mothers as "just happening to defrost enough to produce a child." An equally bizarre explanation was recently formulated by local radio host Michael Savage who claimed that families sought autism diagnoses for their children to get money from the government. He said that most kids could be cured if their fathers just told them to "quit ... and stop acting like a moron" - an opinion that led to a national outcry, including coverage in the New York Times. In fact, autism is a developmental disorder that afflicts one in every 150 children, profoundly affecting their social and motor skills as well as the ability to speak.

April 2 - April 25, 2009
SHOWTIMES: Thursday through Saturday at 8:00 pm.
The Marsh Main Stage
1062 Valencia Street, between 21 and 22 streets
TICKETS: $15-$50 sliding scale Thursday and Friday
For tickets, call 800-838-3006 or visit www.themarsh.org
For more information, call 415-826-5750 or visit The Marsh website at www.themarsh.org