Step in the name of love

One Step at a Time – a Father’s Journey
Watermark Theatre, North Rustico
October 3, 2024

I was literally sick and tired when I shambled into the Watermark Theatre that night. A stubborn respiratory infection had been smacking me around for weeks, so I’d become an oxygen-starved, oft-coughing wreck. But there was theatre to be seen, so I’d sallied forth.

The show was the touring one-man production One Step at a Time – a Father’s Journey. I was groggy, trying to keep my distance from folks in case I was contagious, masked up to protect others and to reduce the risk of me picking up any additional viruses, sucking cough drops in hopes of not becoming a distraction. Long story short, I was tense. 

So it’s a good thing this show about a family raising a disabled son—not necessarily a sunshine-and-rainbows premise—turned out to be so engaging and funny and surprisingly joyous. I was awake and entertained and my cough drops mostly kept me from spoiling it for everybody else. 

Written, composed and performed by professional dancer, singer and actor Andrew Prashad, OSTFJ is the story of how Andrew, his wife and their young daughters have raised Andrew’s son Ezra, born with spina bifida and hydrocephalus. Those conditions have complicated and endangered Ezra’s health, impaired his mobility and required a great deal of specialized care, much of it delivered by the Prashad family themselves.

Since his wife Beth is a schoolteacher, Andrew is Ezra’s primary caregiver—which makes it challenging when Andrew’s show business career occasionally entails long-distance travel for gigs. One of the show’s recurring threads is this dilemma, Andrew balancing his passion for his art against his love for his son and for the rest of his family, finding ways to serve all three of these priorities with the help of Beth, daughters Nyasha & Sophia and others.

That might sound dull or bleak or both, and parts of the show can be downright harrowing when Andrew relives medical emergencies, crises of faith and more; but the Prashad family work hard to infuse joy into Ezra’s life and each other’s lives wherever they can, so there’s always moments of happiness and hope peppering this show amidst all the angst. 

Andrew’s a strong enough writer and actor that this could probably be a solid one-man show—smart and funny and moving—even if it were just monologues; but he’s a triple threat, so he levels it all up by singing original music and dancing his heart out, showing off the percussively nimble virtuosity of his tapdancing skills in particular.

The multimedia show also includes assorted audio and video clips, adding some extra layers to the tale and giving Andrew a few moments of much-needed respite between bursts of emotionally and physically intense song-and-dance sequences. He and director/dramaturge Scott Hurst and musical director Jeannie Wyse make it all flow smoothly, and the hour glides by despite the oft-heavy subject matter. 

Touring assorted Canadian venues since 2018, OSTFJ is an inspirational story—it feels a tad corny and trite typing that, but it’s true. Hearing and seeing how this extraordinary family built a rich, full life for a kid with so many challenges is legitimately uplifting stuff. 

A moment near the end of the show sums up that sensation for me, a video clip in which Ezra, with some support, dances with his father for a few moments. Watching that small, quiet moment of gleeful triumph, this tired old reviewer broke into a big, goofy grin under his mask. Best medicine I had all day.