THE SOUND INSIDE to Open New Hampshire Theatre Project Season

New Hampshire Theatre Project will open its 2026-2027 Season with critically acclaimed psychological thriller The Sound Inside by Adam Rapp, directed by Constance Witman, premiering Friday October 16.

The Sound Inside is the story of Bella Baird, an isolated creative writing professor at Yale, who begins to mentor a brilliant but enigmatic student named Christopher, forming an unexpectedly intense bond. As their lives and the stories they tell about themselves become intertwined in unpredictable ways, Bella makes a surprising request of Christopher that neither knows if he can fulfill. Rapp's riveting play explores the limits of what one person can ask of another. Everyone has a story - the question is how it ends. 

Director Constance Witman says, "There's a quote in the play by Dostoevsky: 'We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin to interest us at first sight, somehow suddenly, all at once, before a word is spoken.'  I think that life is all about connection. This play is about that immediate connection on all types of levels - intellectually, physically. We're all just looking for somebody to connect to..."

Assistant Director Heidi Pond follows up, "For me, The Sound Inside is about the stories we construct to survive, and the rupture that occurs when someone else steps into that narrative. It pushes audiences to confront the boundaries of empathy and the cost of vulnerability. This play doesn't offer answers, rather it offers questions you carry home with you. You feel the tension, the tenderness, and the ache of this relationship, and the story lingers because it asks us to consider the choices we make when we think no one is watching."

"This is an incredibly important season for us at New Hampshire Theatre Project," says Executive Artistic Director, Sean Robinson.  "We have made big decisions about the future of our organization recently, and now, this 2026-2027 Season is a pretty landmark moment for us, as we set sail for the future.  I had been looking for a season opener that embodied some of what NHTP is about - thought-provoking, conversation-starting, deeply interesting theatre - and found The Sound Inside to be a beautiful choice to do just that."

Set in New England, The Sound Inside first premiered at The WIlliamstown Theatre Festival in 2018, before opening on Broadway in 2019 in a much-praised production. The play will be making its New Hampshire debut at NHTP. 

Mairi Chanel, who stars as Bella Baird, says, "Many of the themes and events of 'The Sound Inside' are deeply personal to me, and I would imagine to many others as well. Like all the best stories, the play creates a pathway to explore these themes in a space of collective story-telling and care. Bella speaks her story, I believe, because she must. She needs someone to know, but there is no one to know, which is where our audience comes in."

"Both Bella and Christopher are extremely intelligent and creative individuals," says Viridian Soule, who stars opposite Chanel as Christopher in the show, "but their somewhat intentional solitude has cut them off from being able to honestly reflect on who they are. It's not until Christopher approaches Bella for the first time that they start to explore what it means to truly connect with another person."