By Miles Johnson
For those jaded about musicals, or just ready for a new kind of theater experience, look no further than Arnold Hall. For the first time, its auditorium is hosting a performing arts production. However, there is more that sets “A New Brain” apart from other shows than just the venue.
The show is based on a book by William Finn and James Lapine and directed by Michael Wainstein. For this musical, the audience sits backstage, in close proximity to the actors. The stage itself is a raised figure eight with a ramp running down the center. The viewers sit on either side of this platform.
“We wanted to do a show at Arnold, but it’s an awkward venue because the stage is so large. It can be difficult for the audience to see everything that’s going on. So, we decided it was better to do a show with a different format using the backstage,” said fourth-year performing arts major Josh Nunn.
This arrangement includes the use of suspended monitors that display live footage to aid audience vision, and offer them a different perspective of the action. To achieve this, students wield cameras on the sidelines of the stage. The screens also give viewers a look into protagonist Gordon Schwinn’s head.
Gordon is a songwriter for a children’s show that stars a frog that rides a scooter. As he ruminates over his unrealized career goals, the audience is treated to a visual representation of his thoughts in the form of rough colored drawings.
The images continue to shift as Gordon suffers from a cerebral illness and is brought to the hospital. It is there, surrounded by his friend Rhodha, his boyfriend Roger and his mother, that he wonders aloud if he will need a new brain.
Things only get weirder from this point on. In Gordon’s weakened state, the plot shifts in and out of reality. One minute the setting is the hospital, and the next it’s the pornographic dreams of a worried friend. Though bizarre, everything is done in good fun.
As most of the lines are delivered in song, each of the characters of “A New Brain” gets their chance to shine. All the while, a live orchestra flawlessly accompanies the voices. The homeless woman of the play, who will accept change but not dollars, gives a particularly formidable vocal performance.
Naturally, coordinating all of these diverse elements was difficult.
“The show was challenging in the sense that it was a collaboration between multimedia, performance, an audience seated around the stage, and a live band,” Nunn said.
In the end, the effort was well spent. All of the components come together into a musical experience like none other.
“It’s neat to be in a new millennium with a new play and format. This is new theater for a new generation,” Nunn said.
The show runs Nov. 6-8 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 for the general public and $5 for anyone with a valid SCAD ID, seniors, military or students and can be purchased at the SCAD Box Office.
