Breaking into the memory bank

Playwright Jeffrey Hatcher regularly heads up into the attic of his experience and digs around for an incident or character to inspire a new work. He used the high school object-lesson gone awry for 2000's "Good 'N' Plenty." A juicy family anecdote fed the stylish "Mercy of a Storm" in 2004. And young Master Hatcher's grooming in etiquette school produced 2007's "Mrs. Mannerly."

Hatcher has dipped into reality again with a new play, "What's the Word For," which has its world premiere Friday at Illusion Theater in Minneapolis.

Hatcher has written a two-character drama about the relationship between a man who has experienced a brain injury and the nurse who cares for him. Michael Robins is directing Michael Paul Levin and Melissa Hart in the production at Illusion, which commissioned the work.

Longtime fans will notice a different tone in this Hatcher script.

"Well, yeah, it's partially based on what happened to the father of a friend of mine," he said. "Sometimes when something is closer to the real thing, you tend to lean away from the easier stuff or the jokes."

Not to mention, the essential story deals with brain injury, which is not a light subject. Levin's character, Hayden, has huge gaps in his memory and cognitive ability. So severe is his disability that he has moved into the apartment of his caretaker, Mrs. Caleodis.

Still, he's able to knock down a daily crossword puzzle with the best of them. Not just clues like "A hairline can do it" or "Found in police blotters and taverns." No, Hayden goes really deep to dig up answers that would make Will Shortz's pencil bust.

At this point, Hatcher had a poignant, if clever device for a character. It is the odd relationship between Hayden and the caretaker that provided more. Again using the real-life example, Hatcher recalled how difficult it had become for his friend's mother to care for the injured father -- on both practical and personal terms.

"This was not the man that she knew; he's this very bland, near-automaton," Hatcher said. "One of the caregivers said, 'I don't know him as you knew him so I'm not frustrated like you are. Why don't I take him home with me? We can work out visits, but the day-to-day, he can live with me.'

"All the interactions in the play are based off that idea -- that you would go live with your caretaker rather than live at home."

Illusion developed the play in its "Fresh Ink" series last summer. This is Hatcher's eighth commission from the theater and the board of directors requested another for next year. It is a present to Robins and his producing partner Bonnie Morris, so Hatcher kept it simple: a 75-minute, one-man "Hamlet."

"It's called 'Jeffrey Hatcher's Hamlet,'" he said. "I've been thinking about it for years. In fifth grade we were allowed to put on plays, so I was able to act and direct in my own 45-minute Hamlet. It'll be fun. I have a year and a half to lose 40 pounds. I'm thinking of shaving first."