“Draw Me Out” is an original play by Grand Rapids playwright Laura Uzarski. The Stark Turn Players hosts an annual playwright competition as part of the Lake Effect Fringe Festival; Laura’s piece “Remember Me” was the winner of 2014’s competition, and “Draw Me Out” was produced as part of her prize. Most of the actors play two characters, showing the duality of human nature.

This powerful two-act show features Drew, a shy, withdrawn teen suffering from bi-polar disorder. We follow his days at school, relationships with his mom, sister and her “meal girls” friends, his new therapist, and a new friend named Suze who seems to be everything that Drew is not and pops up out of nowhere when he least expects her. Though seemingly somber subject material, the dialogue is very natural and the action fast-paced as Drew learns along with the audience who Suze is and why she has come to goad him into action.

From Encore Michigan’s review of “Draw Me Out” by Sue Merrell:

….But Uzarski’s witty and insightful script and Stark Turn’s polished production, go way beyond expectations for a playwright’s debut….

One of the best parts of the production is the way each scene morphs into another with Amy and her girlfriends as sort of a Greek chorus singing a cappella as they rearrange the desk, chairs and bed in the open black box of Dog Story Theater. The songs become an integral part of the script—with lyrics like ”No one knows what it’s like to be the bad man, to be the sad man” from “Behind Blue Eyes” by the Who and “I’m a creep, I’m a weirdo. What the hell am I doing here?” from Radiohead’s “Creep.” Director Adam J. Hyde has choreographed these scene changes into an energetic, entertaining part of the show.

Hyde has assembled a strong cast…. Amy and her circle of girlfriends play a critical role as Drew’s tormentors, but each has a distinct personality as well. Anessa Johnson is sublimely irritating as snobbish ringleader Brianne….

“Draw Me Out” is a good character study and well portrayed. I doubt that anyone was too surprised by the plot, and yet the story is satisfying because everything flows so smoothly and the characterizations are so believable.