At the Arts Club, Kimberly Akimbo magnifies the highs and lows of adolescence
Lisa Horner plays a 16-year-old girl whose rare genetic condition gives her the appearance of a 72-year-old woman
Lisa Horner in Kimberly Akimbo. Photo by Moonrider Productions
The Arts Club Theatre Company presents Kimberly Akimbo at the Stanley BFL CANADA Stage from April 2 to May 3
MOST TEENAGERS’ BIGGEST concerns are getting good grades, keeping the peace with their parents, and fitting in with the cool kids at school.
But for Kimberly Levaco, who’s just about to turn 16, those normal adolescent woes are overshadowed by another major dilemma. She was born with a rare genetic condition that causes rapid bodily aging—which means she’s navigating high-school life with the appearance of a 72-year-old woman.
Lisa Horner, who’s portraying the teen in the Arts Club Theatre Company’s upcoming production of the musical Kimberly Akimbo, tells Stir by Zoom before a rehearsal that the story is a microcosm of the incredibly visual world we live in nowadays.
“It’s an excellent sort of comment or storytelling about how we really are very young inside,” Horner says. “I mean even myself—I’m 57, and I feel like I’m 16 on most days anyway. So it’s a beautiful experience for me to re-access all the awkwardness.”
Audiences will get to come along with Kimberly through the gamut of teenage experiences when the play debuts on the Stanley BFL CANADA Stage from April 2 to May 3. The titular character has just moved to a new school, where she’s faced with the challenge of making new friends. Her family dynamic is strained; her father, Buddy, is an alcoholic, and her mother, Pattie, is pregnant with a second child. On top of that, Kimberly’s rogue aunt is trying to rope her into a felony.
Needless to say, that’s a lot for one girl to deal with.
“She’s trying to be graceful in an ungraceful world for her, and do all the things that normal 16-year-olds do—which is difficult,” Horner acknowledges. “Perhaps ‘plucky’ is an old-fashioned word, but I think she really suits that because she’s got a lot of things coming at her, and she’s doing her best.”
Complicating matters immensely, Kimberly’s condition means her life expectancy is only 16 years. That harsh reality is dropped delicately into the play by way of a conversation between Kimberly and her love interest, fellow misfit Seth. But her fate doesn’t consume the plot, says Horner. Instead, it serves to enhance the message of living life to the fullest while we still can.
Compassion is also an important component of the story. When Kimberly’s body begins to deteriorate, her peers, friends, and family must learn to cope with the change alongside her, while continuing to offer their support.
“I forgot how stressful it is to be a teenager, you know?” Horner says. “One of the gifts of aging is, in my opinion, some stresses go down….I feel like there’s a lot to think about when you’re young. You’ve got a future that you’re trying to plan and a lot of things that you’re trying to control but you don’t have control over. So some days my cortisol is through the roof as I try to navigate and negotiate her thought processes.”
Fortunately, Kimberly Akimbo is laced with comedy. It features a Tony Award–winning book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire, whose well-timed jokes and comments help lighten the mood of what might otherwise be a very sombre story for audiences. Horner explains that this allows viewers who are closer to her age to put themselves back in the shoes of a teen.
“They can remember what it was like to have all of those writhing emotions—the highs and lows—and have a little bit more empathy for each other,” she says.
Jeanine Tesori’s music helps carry the plot along. Under the direction of Ashlie Corcoran and musical direction of Caitlin Hayes, Horner performs bright, pop-influenced songs about ice skating and embarking on adventures. Many of the tunes feature high notes because of Kimberly’s age, which Horner calls a welcome challenge.
Horner was born in Montreal and moved near Toronto with her family in the early ’80s, where she’s been based ever since. Kimberly Akimbo marks her first foray into Vancouver—and though it has been a wonderful new experience, working on this project in particular has unlocked a lifetime of memories for the veteran theatre artist, who says it’s a gift to go through being 16 again with the promise that at the end of the day she’ll return to her own age.
“It’s good to remember what it’s like to be young—that it’s not just about having great skin and your life ahead of you,” Horner notes. “It’s about trying to negotiate this crazy world without all of the abilities at your command to have any control over it, you know? I think that that’s what we can connect on.” 
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