For Millbrook’s annual fall play, students will be performing the stage adaptation of Flowers for Algernon. The story, based off the 1959 novel of the same name, centers around a man named Charlie Gordon. Charlie is mentally disabled with a low IQ of just 68, and works a menial job as a janitor. He is selected by a group of scientists to receive an experimental surgical technique in order to increase his intelligence. This technique has only been tested on a laboratory mouse named Algernon, (hence the play’s title) and has not yet been tested on humans. The experiment succeeds and makes Charlie into a genius. However, Charlie soon discovers that his newfound intelligence is only temporary. Before he reverts back to who he was, he begins to investigate what went wrong with the experiment, while simultaneously struggling with his past, his feelings for a teacher named Alice, and his own eventual decline. Will Charlie’s intelligence fade just as quickly as it was given to him? Make sure to go see our own Millbrook students put on the show this week.

 The story has received high praise all around, and the 1968 film adaptation Charly even won an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. The story is sad and heartbreaking, but also completely brilliant. Junior Carson Weddle will play Charlie Gordon in Millbrook’s performance and is sure to do a great job. From speaking with freshman Peyton Sodemann, who plays teenaged Charlie, the process of show sounds like a lot of fun as well: “The process was long and time consuming, but it was worth it,” Peyton said, “The cast and crew are amazing.” The show dates are set for this Thursday (the 17th), Friday (the 18th), and Saturday (the 19th) at 7 p.m. in our own Millbrook auditorium. Tickets will be sold at the door and will cost $5 for students and $10 for adults.