BWW Reviews: Dylan Guerra's Eclectic SYMPHONY NO. 8 IN A MAJOR Intrigues at SMU

Anyone who knows me knows I am not a math or science type. Never have been, never will be. There's something about formulas, compounds, and stuff that will never peak my interest. As a creative type, it's just not in my DNA (pun intended).

So imagine my surprise when reviewing playwright/actor Dylan Guerra's "Symphony No. 8 in A Major", showing for a weekend only engagement at Southern Methodist University (SMU) Meadows School of the Arts. All I could think about were Petri dishes.

That's right. Petri dishes. Those cylindrical, shallow glasses dish thingies used by scientists to grow cells in their natural and in synthetic environments to study life at that most basic level ("yes, I had to look all of that science mumbo jumbo stuff up because remember, I'm just not that into science").

Guerra, a freshman in the undergraduate SMU theatre program, simulates a natural and imaginary environment in a basement theater space where he grapples with the age old human question "Who am I?"

Fellow classmate Adam A. Anderson, an engaging presence on stage, serves as a tour guide known as The Virgin on this journey into the mental pathos Guerra adeptly plots in a show that ran close to 2 hours with no intermission. Conventional play structure normally dictates a break midway through a story but Guerra's writing and Anderson's spoken word narration of the story combine to make it work.

Utilizing a very casual intro that felt like friends sitting around talking, Anderson draws the audience in with the direct question of the evening "Who am I", which he repeats like a mantra.

Anderson follows that question up with several statements that were reflecting and self-loathing at the same time. "I'm the only person in my life who's not in my life." "I am a blank expression to satisfy your first impression." "I'm my own arch-nemesis." "I'm my own enemy." "I'm a lying trickster, a slave to the game."

Then, with the skill of a master puppeteer, Anderson reels in the audience by speaking of two limitations he has as an actor. One is being naked on stage, which he describes as 'special' because being in that state in front of someone means you trust them and it's difficult to initiate that level of trust in front of a group of strangers. The second is kissing another actor on stage due to parental concerns.

Due to Anderson's easy-going manner, he comes off during this segment as an actor trying to explain how he approaches his craft, which is greeted with laughs from the audience as well as some cynical stares.

Then suddenly the production blurs the line between reality and fantasy, and the audience is swept away into the recesses of an organic work featuring 7 additional actors who join Anderson on stage.

The effect created is a mental symphony that holds you captive and forces you to seriously contemplate the initial question "Who am I?"

Brady Stebleton literally BURSTS through the white and grey brain matter of the story as a character called The Seeker. His performance is consistent and convincing throughout the story.

The same holds for Stephanie Machado as America, Ted Gwara as The Patriot, and Guerra himself in the role as the manipulative Con-Artist, who all provide effective representations of their characters.

In addition to Anderson, standout performances of the evening belonged to Marissa Romer as The Lady of the Swamp, Derick Rodgers as The Captive, and Tyler Crim as The Fool, who each transmitted different elements of the human condition theatrically with the execution of axons delivering brain signals that were both natural and complex at the same time.

Romer came off as both comedic and dramatic, depending on where her character led her and where she wanted to take it. Romer displayed an innate sense of when to manipulate her storyline of love unrequited, as well as the love a mother has for a child she must protect, both which she does with perfection.

Rodgers in the role of The Captive pulls you into his dark world of non-feeling and makes you struggle to free yourself and him as well. When he eventually emerges from his mental abyss, the transformation hits you at a visceral level familiar to anyone who has ever dealt with mental illness in any capacity.

In a masterful performance which includes speaking to his imaginary love interest, Crim takes you on a tumultuous journey into the recesses of the human psyche, a level all of us have experienced when connecting with another individual, whether that connection is platonic or romantic.

Crim transmits the pain of this discovery back to Anderson and the others, which in cyclical fashion leads straight to the freedom behind the reflective, age old question, "Who am I?"

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