Genre: One-person show
Written by: Autumn Terrill
Directed by: Dean Strober
Performed by: Autumn Terrill
Running time: 75 minutes
Web site: bottomsupproductions.com

Every monologuist needs an intriguing tale or a unique perspective. Autumn Terrill is blessed with both. This one-woman show, which traces her adopted, brain-damaged brother's journey from foundling to high school flag team and beyond, is performed in a style best described as "lovingly grotesque." Loud, bold and crass, Terrill isn't afraid to milk laughs out of a spastic physicality that defiantly puts the slapstick back in the Special Olympics. She's also quick to point out the failings of both her family and the medical establishment. Disrespectful? Hardly. Disarming? Definitely. With a born storyteller's gift for delivering details, punch lines and emotional turnabout, this comely blonde gives two middle fingers to the idea that mentally retarded people are just like us. Her brother is infinitely more special than that. So is she. This is theater of advocacy at its best.—Drew Pisarra

• Where: Next Stage
• When: Sun, Aug. 15 at 9:30 p.m.; Fri, Aug 20 at 4:45 p.m.; Sat, Aug 21 at 10:45 p.m.; Tue, Aug 24 at 8 p.m.; Sat, Aug 28 at 8 p.m.