Hedgerow Theatre presents Dave Droxler’s Robin & Me: My Little Spark of Madness

This autobiographical one-man play, which debuted Off-Broadway last year, follows a boy named David (played by Droxler) navigating life in the Philly suburbs with the help of “imaginary friend and real-life idol” Robin Williams. This is a new production with an updated script, directed by Chad Austin, who also helmed the premiere.

Robin & Me beckons us down a rabbit-hole of what it means to time travel, and the different ways we do it. For me, the show’s title alone brought on the stunning realization that it’s been a full decade since we lost comedy titan Robin Williams. I think about Sally Field’s words of tribute: “I'm sad for the world of comedy.” Years later, the same feeling remains.

In 2014 the world reacted with an avalanche of tributes to Williams as a performer and friend while highlighting his most iconic characters. When we revisit our favorite stories for comfort, we have the chance to bring another person along for the ride through a movie or TV show. Droxler is nothing short of marvelous as he guides the audience on a madcap journey through his own past and present.

Laughs, grief, and time travel

Hedgerow’s renovated 19th-century mill-turned-theater wraps us in towering stone walls and greets the audience with a haunting display. Lucky Pickering’s set teems with countless costumes, wigs, and furniture, seemingly transported directly from a 1980s dressing room. Rickety scaffolding creeps up one side of the set, full of antique lamps from a dozen different living rooms. It’s a sprawling, vibrant wonder. Droxler bursts onstage and rises to meet that energy as he lights the way with deft narration.

Droxler as Williams whirls chaotically across the stage while explosive and colorful outbursts from the windows, antique lamps, and blaring TV screen match his energy. He leaps flawlessly from playing himself as a child to playing his mother, his father, Williams, and a slew of other comedy icons. His Williams impression is so uncanny it brought on a twinge of delight mixed with grief.

The nostalgia pulled me right in. During the show, a lone TV glows and blares with the old Pennsylvania Lottery jingle. That sound clip alone jarred me like a sleeper cell right back to the 90s—since today’s tech can’t open a real doorway in time, this production may be the next best thing.

Lily Fossner’s marvelous lighting shifts focus with surgical precision, morphing from a game show set to classic scenes from Mrs. Doubtfire and Aladdin. I nearly fell from my seat laughing when Droxler brought the entire scene to a panicked halt, realizing he couldn’t afford the rights to any Disney songs.

A spark to be shared

Most striking are the moments of quiet devastation as the star revisits painful days buried in his past. One moment in particular took our collective breath away as a small light ping-pongs up the cluster of scaffolding lamps and disappears into the sky. A simple bulb going out leaves a yawning silence behind that grips the heart like a vise.

Somehow in the following moments, a quick word and a goofball movement from Droxler had us bursting right back into laughter. That spark is more than a well-timed splash of stage light: it is a thing to be felt and shared with other theater-lovers. And I’ve never laughed harder at the idea of a lifetime supply of Snapple.