IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT, TYLER PRICE follows JACKSON, a middle school boy with big feelings who’s in big trouble after punching his bullying classmate, TYLER PRICE, for mocking his sister, LUCY, after she sings about wanting a bat mitzvah. Lucy attends the same school, but in the special day class. She has epilepsy and related learning challenges -- lots of them.
Jackson is ordered by his principal, MS. McKACKNEY, to explain himself to the entire school in order to avoid expulsion.
With the help of his favorite teachers MS. FRIS and MR. TORRES, his best friend COCO, and a stolen score of music that his composer dad DANIEL wrote, Jackson has a different idea. Instead of a dry presentation on epilepsy, he will stage a scrappy, heartfelt musical.
In the course of his irreverent show, we learn about his family's struggles with his sister’s epilepsy and the collateral damage this neurological condition has inflicted upon their lives.
His parents, EMMA and Daniel, arrive at the performance and are shocked by its content. They grapple to watch themselves portrayed onstage. Daniel is alarmed to hear their private family struggles (marital fights, visits to a psychiatrist) aired in public, and unnerved to hear his vulnerable, personal songs performed.
SYNOPSIS
Emma intervenes, to Jackson’s dismay, and helps explain Lucy’s situation to the audience. Jackson’s pent up anger at his family boils over. He confronts his parents, then runs out of the auditorium.
Jackson’s actions jolt Daniel and Emma. The recognition of their son’s pain triggers a shift in their attitudes.
Eventually, Tyler Price, the bully who has been watching Jackson’s presentation from the back of the auditorium, decides to apologize. Jackson returns to say he won’t have it. He’s not ready.
Finally, Daniel begins to express all he’s held tightly inside, including his deepest fears. Emma realizes she wants a change in her life, and will leave her law practice to start a therapeutic horse ranch for children with special needs. Through Jackson’s bravery to gain understanding from his peers and Lucy’s bravery in pursuing her bat mitzvah dream, we see understanding begin within the family.
Soon, everyone on stage, including the principal, the teachers, Coco -- and even Tyler -- open up about their struggles. They are united by their shared humanity. Lucy and Jackson gain a deeper understanding of each other. The family’s bonds deepen. At the end of the show, Lucy invites the entire school to her bat mitzvah.
THE STORY
