THE ELEPHANT IN EVERY ROOM I ENTER is a strikingly intimate solo piece about Gardiner Comfort’s experience as an actor living with Tourette Syndrome. Created with his frequent collaborator Kel Haney You’re Not Tough (HERE Arts Center; Dixon Place), the play explores the week Gardiner spent at the Tourette Association of America National Conference in Washington, DC. Surrounded by hundreds of other people with Tourette’s: it was the first time he felt “normal.” Using an erratic and energetic performance style (a nod to Tourette’s itself), along with groundbreaking video design (Caite Hevner & Lianne Arnold), this original show blends comedy, dance and a personal outlook on disability.

“In the course of the well-put-together show—there was nothing self-indulgent about it—Comfort described going to a Tourette’s conference in Washington, D.C., an occasion he illustrated with a level of care that was striking, not least because the performance was devoid of sentimentality. Comfort’s clear-eyed efforts reminded me of the work of his peer Nilaja Sun.” – Hilton Als, The New Yorker

Scenic & Video Design by Caite Hevner & Lianne Arnold
Costume Design by Summer Lee Jack
Lighting Design by Jimmy Lawlor
Sound Design by Elisheba Ittoop
Choreography by Dan Safer
Production Stage Manager - Michal Mendelson
Production Manager - Elizabeth Goodman
Assistant Director - Matthew Sciarappa
Sound Associate - Ben Scheff
Assistant Costume Designer - Brenna McShane
Marketing & Social Media Strategist - Whitney Biancur
Press Representative - Matt Ross Public Relations