Courting Darkness

"It costs so much to be a full human being that there are few
who have the love and courage to pay the price.
One has to abandon altogether the search for security
and reach out to the risk of living with both arms.
One has to embrace life like a lover.
One has to accept pain as a condition of existence.
One has to court doubt and darkness as the cost of knowing.
One needs a will stubborn in conflict, but apt always to
total acceptance of every consequence of living and dying."
~ Morris West ~
From the play, Courting Darkness, by M. Longley

"Mitchell Longley (Matt) has found a way to put his spinal cord injury in perspective: he has written a one-man play about it. Titled Courting Darkness, the play recounts the aftermath of Longley's traumatic 1983 accident, which left him in a wheelchair, and brings to the fore 20 of the people who came into his life as a result. "It's emotional, but there's also a lot of humor in it," says Longley. He last performed his show in 1997 to rave reviews. Now he will restage it for a month of Tuesday nights starting February 29 at Los Angeles' Odyssey Theater. Asked if he is ready to relive the painful memories, Longley is confident, explaining that it is an actor's job to handle such challenges. "There are some emotional moments in it, for sure, but it's also a nice educational tool for me to share with the audience," he says. "It's not very often that people have an opportunity to see what life can be life for somebody with a disability." (From Soaps in Depth, February 8, 2000)