Down the Rabbit Hole with Dr. Parkinson is a new play directed by New Mexico State University Assistant Professor of Theatre Nichole Hamilton and assistant-directed by NMSU Theatre Arts major Maggie Jane Simpson. It educates its audience about Parkinson’s disease while entertaining. The show had five performances from April 5 until April 8.

The play was created through a series of workshops during fall 2017. It centers around stories that real people with Parkinson’s disease have experienced, and explains how Parkinson’s disease affects the brain, as well as its symptoms. The piece was a blend of actors and non-actors, students and teachers, and people who have Parkinson’s disease and people who do not have it.

Down the Rabbit Hole with Dr. Parkinson is made up of an ensemble cast, which includes: Sammi Armstrong as Alice, Elaine Brink as Grandma, Dormouse, and Caterpillar, Xodia Choate as the Bunny, Timothy Ecton as Dr. Parkinson, John Hamilton as Grandfather, Michael Holt as Brother, Train Passenger, Mad Hatter, and De, Jaidan Jaramillo as Sister, Train Passenger, March Hare, and Dum, and Kay Lilley as Mom, Train Passenger, and Queen of Hearts. 

John Hamilton brought the idea of this project to NMSU’s Theatre Arts department. His goal is to establish a Disease Registry for Parkinson’s in New Mexico.

“We are within inches of getting a registry. But the problem that we have is money, funding for the conference,” said John Hamilton. He continued, “We need to get the attention of people, locally and statewide, about the subject of Parkinson’s.”

Trying to find a way to reach his local community, Hamilton said, “I thought about theatre. Now, I’m not a theatre person, but I thought that it was a wonderful way of approaching the problem of Parkinson’s disease.”

Simpson, Assistant Director in the project, added that the primary goal for our project was to raise awareness, and second, have a disease registry for persons with Parkinson’s in New Mexico.

The story begins with Alice, the main character, played by Sammi Armstrong, an NMSU Theatre Arts major, at dinner with her family. When her Grandfather, played by John Hamilton, experiences tremors brought on by his Parkinson’s, the family reacts negatively. This confuses Alice.

Alice then goes on an adventure through the brain and wonderland. Alice meets Dr. Parkinson, played by Timothy Ecton, an NMSU Theatre Arts major. Dr. Parkinson and the ensemble teach Alice about Parkinson’s disease through a game of red light/green light, a tea party, a hallucination, and a misadventure at a bank.

After leaving wonderland, Alice returns to dinner with her family, where her Grandfather re-experiences his tremors. This time, though, Alice understands what her Grandfather is going through and responds positively.

Nichole Hamilton explained that she and John Hamilton “…sat down and talked about what the mission of the project would be. And I think he really wanted to do a play that would entertain, educate, engage the community, raise awareness about Parkinson’s, and hopefully instigate advocacy. And I was all in agreement with that.”

Armstrong said that “The rehearsal process was interesting because we didn’t have the whole play at the beginning so we would rehearse a scene or rehearse a concept and make it into a scene.”

Kay Lilley, another member of the cast, explained that she “found the entire experience really fascinating”.

“The process was unfamiliar to me because I’ve never been involved in theatre, much less being part of the creative team and the writing team” said Lilley. “The process was really cool and I really loved that we used real experiences from people who have shared their stories with us. To me, that made it even more meaningful.”

Regarding the outcome of the project, John Hamilton said that, it had turned out to be a remarkable experience, and he hopes that it’s something that can bear fruit in form of better therapy, better understanding of how Parkinson’s works.”