Reviewed by George Basler
The Sound Inside is not an easy play to get your head around. It’s far easier to let your emotions have a go at it. The tone is somber and ominous. The two characters are, at times, not particularly likeable. The plot is deliberately opaque and open to interpretation.
But there are times when the play, which opened this past weekend (Sept. 13-15) for a three-weekend run at KNOW Theatre in downtown Binghamton, will shock you and jar you emotionally.
The author, Adam Rapp, is known for his dark themes, elliptical language and complex narration. In The Sound Inside, a 50-something Yale University writing professor and one of her students form an intense relationship that, while never sexual, has an intimacy that leads to some chilling developments by the play’s end.
The play premiered at the prestigious Williamstown Theatre Festival in 2018 and had a critically successful Broadway run a year later. It received a Tony Award nomination as best play, and Mary-Louise Parker, who played the professor, received the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.
Nonetheless, Rapp is a polarizing playwright, critic Jonathan Kalb has noted. “If you like him, you admire his demand that we listen closely. If you don’t, you probably consider his prose purple, show-offy and too bookish for theater — language that calls attention to itself for no dramatic reason.”
The Sound Inside is certainly guilty of being bookish as the characters engage in lengthy discussions about language and the process of writing. Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment comes up a lot. But there are other moments when Rapp’s writing is taut and riveting as the two characters reveal their insecurities and essential loneliness.
The play studiously avoids clichés and has twists and turns that lead the two characters into some dark places. The ending is devastating.
The KNOW production benefits from first-rate performances by its two actors, Heidi Weeks and Jacob Donlin.
Weeks gives a stunning performance as the professor, Bella. On one level, the character embodies the strength of an independent woman. On another level, she has retreated into the world of books to disguise her isolation and loneliness. Weeks’ sharply detailed acting catches both aspects of the complex character.
Weeks is especially effective in long monologues at the beginning of Act I and Act II. In the second act, Bella reveals that she is suffering from a potentially fatal cancer. Weeks plays the monologue with an icy demeanor and a touch of bitter humor that make it all the more wrenching. She then confronts the student with a desperate request that becomes the crux of the play.
As the student, Christopher, Donlin gives an intelligent, controlled performance. The enigmatic nature of the character makes it a difficult one to play. Christopher seems intelligent and self-assured to the point of abrasiveness. He’s working on a novel that Bella praises as showing great promise.
But he’s also a troubled young man who is dealing with emotions he can’t clearly define. Donlin effectively plays this vulnerability and fragility. Is Christopher emotionally destroyed by Bella’s desperate request? Does his fragile nature break completely? Or is he just living out the actions of the troubled character in his novel? Donlin’s subtle and intriguing performance leaves the question open.
The production, directed by KNOW Artistic Director Tim Gleason, does a notable job conveying The Sound Inside’s solemn character. Lighting Director Gabrielle Button puts a sharp spotlight on Weeks during the character’s revelatory monologues. Otherwise, the lighting is muted in keeping with the play’s muted atmosphere. The set is sparse and without any discernible color. Even Bella’s clothes are drab brown, reflecting the character’s shut-in life.
The Sound Inside is not an easy play to pigeonhole. Rapp’s dark tone and, at times, overly dense dialogue can leave you with mixed feelings about his work. But its originality can’t be disputed. Moral ambiguities abound in the play. It can be seen as a series of puzzle boxes that never reveal their answers.
IF YOU GO; KNOW Theatre will present Adam Rapp’s The Sound Inside weekends through Sept. 29 at its theater, 74 Caroll St., Binghamton. Friday and Saturday performances are at 8 p.m.; Sunday performances are at 3 p.m. Tickets at $28 ($23 for seniors, $15 for students) can be purchased at www.knowtheatre.org. There is a pay-what-you-can night this Thursday, (Sept. 19).
