About the Play
The Recovering Pessimist is a fascinating, intriguing and uplifting play about a subject not often dealt with in the theatre: the power of thoughts in shaping one’s life and legacy. It is co-written by Marianne Helm and Ralph Maffongelli and adapted from the book, “Welcome To My World: Two Perspectives On One Life Lived” by Marianne Helm.
The central character, Midge, has always been nagged with negative thoughts. While this has been somewhat harmful to her own mental health, it has also clouded some important life decisions. Aware of her situation, Midge has tried to fight these feelings with varying degrees of success. The title of the piece is derived from the playwrights’ premise that, like someone suffering from any addiction, pessimistic thinking is always lurking in the background wanting to be expressed. Quieting and overcoming negative thinking requires attention, awareness and effort.
But The Recovering Pessimist is not a depressing documentary on mental disorders. Quite the opposite, it dramatizes with wit and humor the manner in which Midge courageously deals with her emotions. Moreover, at the end of her life – or maybe it should be said after her life, since the play’s setting is Midge’s funeral – she both figuratively and literally confronts her pessimistic alter ego and rids her forever from her psyche.
So audience members – whether they are optimist, pessimists, cynics, romantics or wide-eyed realists – will empathize with Midge, thoroughly enjoy watching her review her life’s ups and down, and be especially thrilled to witness her very final decision.
The playwrights recommend a talk-back after the performance to allow audience members the opportunity to share some of their insights and new awareness.
The Recovering Pessimist can be presented for:
Fundraising
Educational Programming
Entertainment
Therapeutic Education
Community Education
Please use the contact form to reach the authors for more information about how to produce the stage play in your community.
About the Co-Playwright, Marianne R. Helm
Marianne Helm is the co-founder of the The Wholistic Health Center in Wisconsin, a clinic dedicated to the delivery of health promotion and education, complimentary medicine and alternative therapies. She is also the founder and director of Wholistic Health Counseling Services, a state mandated outpatient mental health clinic. Marianne is the former Executive Director of the Sheboygan Wellness Association in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
She has been awarded the "Special Citizen Award" by the Sheboygan Mental Health Association, "Outstanding Community Service Award" by the American Heart Association and "Man of Action" award by the Independent Insurance Agents. In 1994 she was named to the Professional Group Study Exchange to India by Rotary International to serve as an ambassador of goodwill to study the religion, healing arts and lifestyle of families and women in India. She has represented her city on four sister city exchange trips to Esslingen, Germany assisting the Mayor's International Committee in reaching it's goals of building and maintaining relationships with residents of that town.
Marianne is a personal counselor, and uses a variety of techniques to stimulate creative expression of health and healing for herself and her clients. Her spiritual path has led her to insights about soul, life purpose, and service and most especially about the power of thoughts in creating life experiences. Her continuing lifework goal is to assist in whole person development to ever higher values, integrity and enjoyment of life.
About the Co-Playwright, Ralph Maffongelli
With Bachelor and Master’s Degrees in drama from Emerson College and Michigan State University respectively, Ralph Maffongelli has enjoyed a career of more than forty-five years in professional theatre. Throughout his lifetime he has been involved in over 485 productions, more that 240 of which he has directed. His background includes resident stage manager/director at New Jersey’s Surflight Summer Theatre, Assistant Professor of Speech and Drama at Mercy College of Detroit, work off-Broadway and in dinner theatre and twenty-eight years as managing/artistic director at the Sheboygan (WI) Theatre Company. A guest director at theatres in Connecticut, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin he is also a script reader and consultant for various playwrights throughout the country.
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