Name: Automatic: A Life with Shem
Start: 2026-04-17T20:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-04-17T22:00:00-05:00
Location: Overtime Theater

Creative Circuit Studios & The Overtime Theater Presents
Automatic: A Life with Shem
Written by John Lambert
Performed by Jess Mahogany and John Lambert
Directed by Andrew Jacobi Jeter
Join us for a profound and moving theatrical experience for Autism Awareness Month. Automatic: A Life with Shem dives into the enduring impact of a family's separation during the darkest period of autism stigma.
The play centers on John, who seeks hypnotherapy to confront the trauma of his younger brother Shem's institutionalization. This separation occurred during the tail end of the the infamous "Refrigeration Mother" era, a time when mothers were unjustly stigmatized as the cause of autism and cruelly isolated from their institutionalized children.
Through John's subconscious journey, the audience takes a deep dive into the layers of impact -- on Shem, on John, and on the family forced to navigate a world of blame and isolation. Automatic is a raw, unflinching look at the mirror autism holds up to the individual and society at large.
John's journey ventures through emotional corridors that range from humorous and whimsical to the dark and deeply poignant. In a powerful narrative of reckoning, the path toward vindication and redemption emerges from an entirely unexpected source.