Review: THE SOUND INSIDE Resonates at Capital Stage

Have you ever felt alone in a crowded room? You’re surrounded by people, yet you’re truly by yourself. That’s how Bella Baird, a creative writing teacher at Yale, lives her life. She has hundreds of students, but no friends, no family, no one she can count on. Michael Stevenson directs a compelling take on Adam Rapp’s The Sound Inside, a haunting look at connection, intimacy, and restraint that stretches the audience’s imagination and trusts us to embrace unsettling ambiguity.

As a writer, this show was a real treat. It spoke the language of writing and conveyed the intricacies of the craft that those who love words understand.  As an audience member, it challenged me to face the vulnerability on stage while examining boundaries and emotions. Rapp’s dialogue and the intricate portrayals of Bella and her student, Christopher, carry the show through twists and turns and naturally-building tension as we try to separate what is real and what is implied.

Dana Brooke plays her most convincing role yet as Bella, the unreliable narrator of the piece. She’s serious, convinced of her mediocrity, and standoffish as her office hours are encroached upon by her rather odd student, Christopher. Jacob Flekier plays him brilliantly – Christopher is gifted, ambitious, a little intimidating, and entirely eccentric. He quotes Dostoevsky and takes too many liberties, but he’s also a prolific writer who makes Bella remember who she once was when she was a writer, too. They take us on a journey that we’re not sure we want to go on, only to swerve in a different direction. This one is nothing you’d expect, and they leave us watching their odd pas de deux with more questions than answers. It’s so artfully done, we can’t help but love it.

From a cozy, book-filled living room to a snowy landscape only one step away, Cameron Hoyt’s set design functions with symbolism and effortless flow. Despite the close quarters, it makes sense. Humor peppered throughout helps mitigate the serious content without discrediting the very valid emotions that come with the territory. The Sound Inside will make you look within yourself and delve deep into the human psyche for insight into what makes us tick.

The Sound Inside plays at Capital Stage through March 1st. More information and tickets may be found online at Capstage.org, by telephone at (916) 995-5464, or in person at the Box Office at 2215 J Street in Sacramento.

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