Review: THE SOUND INSIDE at Robert G. Reim Theatre

The lights come up and the story’s protagonist Bella is alone on the stage. She begins to narrate. Bella, breaking the fourth wall, tells the audience that she is a professor of creative writing at an Ivy League College, has lost both of her parents, describes her lonely existence, and shares that she is dealing with a cancer diagnosis. That sets into motion Adam Rapp’s drama THE SOUND INSIDE, the current offering presented by Moonstone Theatre Company.  

Rapp’s script uses first person narration as the convention for storytelling throughout his play. For the next 90 minutes, Bella tells the audience her story about a new relationship with one of her students, Christopher Dunn, a freshman in her writing class. As the play progresses, she also conveys conversations she is having with her oncologist and talks of a less than satisfying one-night stand. Rapp’s script takes the audience down Bella’s dark path, but unfortunately, he has penned a script where his protagonist Bella isn’t the most fascinating character in his 2-actor play. Therein lies the challenge when discussing this production. Christopher is far more interesting. 

Christopher seems volatile at their first meeting when he aggressively interrupts his professor during her office hours without an appointment. He has a hard edge that makes him quite off putting. Christopher’s presence was immediately felt thanks to Ryan Lawson-Maeske's disturbing portrayal. His Christoper is a foreboding presence that is felt whether he is on or off stage. Lawson-Maeske paints Christoper as high-strung, anxious, and unstable. When he looks out into the audience, it is impossible to guess what is exactly behind his enigmatic stares. Lawson-Maeske's performance keeps you guessing about Christopher’s motives.  

Bella, played by Moonstone Artistic Director Sharon Hunter, is inexplicably drawn to Christoper. Hunter’s portrayal is best when Bella is involved in sharp banter with Christopher. Those are the moments when Hunter, as an actor, exhibits a true connection to the material. But, for much of the production Hunter is on stage alone, delivering the scripted narrative in a lecture-like format with a professorial tone. While Hunter was confident narrating the story as Bella, the first-person convention did not illicit enough of an emotional connection to make the story engrossing overall.  

Gary Wayne Barker’s direction is crisp. He effectively blocks his actors using Dunsi Dai’s triptych set design, and smartly employed Lawson-Maeske to move set pieces upon his entrance and exits. Dai’s functional set design has Bella’s apartment living space center stage, flanked by her office on the audience’s right and a restaurant table with seating for two on the audience’s left. Above the walls of Bella’s living space, Dai has provided projection designer Spencer Roe-Weaver with a small rectangular palette for his projections. It would have been nice if Roe-Weaver were given more space to work with because the projections were elegant and sometimes lost above the action.  

Moonstone’s THE SOUND INSIDE is a well-constructed piece of theatre but has a story that simply did not resonate. Rapp’s story left me flat. Walking away from the theatre, and reflecting on the overall production, I wanted to like THE SOUND INSIDE more than I did.  

Despite the criticism of the overall story, I still suggest seeing this production for a few reasons. First, Ryan Lawson-Maeske's performance. His enigmatic Christoper is gripping. Second, Mary Louise Parker won the Tony Award for her portrayal as Bella, so there is a strong likelihood that audiences may disagree with this assessment of the script. Finally, it is a polished production with strong collaboration between the director, his actors, and the technical crew.  

THE SOUND INSIDE, presented by Moonstone Theatre Company, plays the Robert G. Reim Theater in Kirkwood Park through February 25. Click the link below to purchase tickets.  

PHOTO CREDIT: Jon Gitchoff

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