The Synopsis
In this up-to-the minute comedy-drama, a woman identified as Mama and a man identified as Dad are raising their 9-year old son, Jesse. As they attempt to manage their restless and disruptive child, they fear that Jesse may have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (known more familiarly as ADHD). Mama dives into research mode, reading books and medical reports. She hunts for solutions, talking to schoolteachers, psychologists and psychiatrists, exploring biofeedback and dietary restrictions, and checking out clinics. After exhausting all these options, she reluctantly agrees to put Jesse on Ritalin. The decision complicates her marriage to Dad, and results in a more docile but less recognizable child.

The Playwright

If you like Lisa Loomer's work with Distracted, check out Living Out at the Portland Actors Conservatory through April 26.  Artists Rep patrons get 20% off.

Lisa Loomer's most recent play, Distracted, had its world premiere at the Mark Taper Forum, went on to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and will open at the Roundabout Theater in New York in 2009. Living Out had its world premiere at the Taper and was produced at Second Stage in New York in 2003. Loomer is perhaps best known for The Waiting Room which went from the Williamstown Theater Festival to the Taper to highly successful productions at Arena Stage and Trinity Repertory Company and then on to the Vineyard Theatre in New York. Loomer's first work for theater was a collaboration entitled A Crowd of Two at the American Place Theatre. This was followed by a one-woman show All By Herselves at the Westside Arts. She began writing plays at the INTAR Theatre New Works Lab, and her first play, Birds, was produced by South Coast Repertory. Subsequent works include Maria, Maria, Maria, Maria!; Accelerando; Looking for Angels; Cuts and Chain of Life, which have been produced at such theaters as the Public Theatre, INTAR Theatre, Los Angeles Theatre Center, and Mixed Blood. Expecting Isabel had its world premiere at Arena Stage and its West Coast premiere at the Taper. Bocon!, a political fable for young audiences, began at the Taper and has been seen throughout the country, as well as in Germany, Alaska and Mexico. For the Cornerstone Theatre Company, she wrote Broken Hearts, produced at the Los Angeles Theater Center. The B.H. Mystery brought together actors and community people from four "BH" neighborhoods in L.A.: Boyle Heights, Broadway Hill (or Chinatown), Baldwin Hills and Beverly Hills.

Loomer is an alumna of New Dramatists and the recipient of two grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and a grant from the New York Foundation for the Arts. Awards include the Jane Chambers Playwriting Award (for The Waiting Room), Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays Award, Back Stage West Garland Award for Playwriting (for Living Out), Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play (for Expecting Isabel), and the American Theatre Critics Association Steinberg New Play Award (for The Waiting Room and Expecting Isabel). She also received an Imagen Award for positive portrayals of Latinos in all media. Loomer is also a screenwriter. Her first film, Looking For Angels, was chosen by Sundance for its first co-lab with the Latin American Film Institute in Cuba where she had the opportunity to work with Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Other film credits include Girl, Interrupted and Nappily Ever After for Halle Berry, soon to be in production.

Lisa Loomer talks about Distracted in an interview with the Medford Mail Tribune:
"What is ADD in an ADD world? We are bombarded with computers, cell phones, call waiting. It's likely none of us has gotten through a conversation without an interruption. Is all the technology that's supposed to help us do things faster getting in the way of real communication? The play asks if we are forgetting to pay attention to what's more important…what gets me is how many people relate to the issue. People say they had it or their kids have it. It's in the [psychiatric] manual. The symptoms are distractibility, impulsivity, risk-taking, disorganized thinking, time management problems, hyperactivity. When the mom reads him the symptoms, Jesse says, 'That sounds like childhood.' "

Production History
Distracted had its world premiere on March 15, 2007 at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. It was subsequently produced at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in summer/fall 2007 and opened at the Roundabout Theater in New York in February, 2009.

Recommended for adult audiences. Mature language and themes, sexual references.

^*Member of Actor’s Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States

⁺Equity Membership Candidate
⁺⁺Member of Artists Repertory Theatre Resident Acting Company

Production Sponsors:









Cochran Broadway Electric

Bob & Diana Gerding

“I thought the intelligent discussion of the issue was very interesting. It is a show that should be seen by all parents and those who work with children.”

“Terrific concept and script. Well staged, well acted.”

“I thought the acting was very well done and I enjoyed the show very much. It was interesting and fast-paced and covered the subject matter with depth and sensitivity. Kudos to Artists Rep for doing this show; it depicts very well what Artists Rep is all about and why I support it.”

“The acting was superb!”

“I loved the reality, the authentic feel of the script, the actors, the stage environment.”

“Extremely timely and relevant.”