‘The Sound Inside’ one of season’s best plays

‘THE SOUND INSIDE’: Will Hochman & Mary-Louise Parker. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

THE SOUND INSIDE
Written by Adam Rapp
Directed by David Cromer
Through January 12, 2020
Studio 54
254 West 54th Street
(212-239-6200), www.soundinsidebroadway.com

By David NouNou

When you have an intense 90-minute, two-character drama that is almost a monologue and a thriller, the less said the better. That being said, it is better for the viewer’s benefit to go into The Sound Inside with as little knowledge as possible.

Bella (Mary-Louise Parker) is a Yale professor. She is a loner and is heavily involved in academia. She loves books and enlightening students with the bounty that’s inside them. Bella also has been diagnosed as having an advanced stage of stomach cancer.

Her life is interrupted by a most challenging and rebelliously stringent student, Christopher (Will Hochman). Christopher wants to write a novel, and Bella is intrigued by his ideas and the concept of his writing. This forms an unusual bond between them. It leads into twists and turns that the viewer has to decipher and that is a good thing. The possibilities are boundless.

The dialogue is crisp and the chemistry between Bella and Christopher is palpable. It is incredible how David Cromer, the director, paces the proceedings and extracts beautiful, unforgettable moments from such a delicate, intricate drama

What makes the show so indelible are the two exquisite performances by Mary-Louise Parker and Will Hochman. Ms. Parker’s performance is subtle and divine; she pulls you in ever so gently. Mr. Hochman’s performance is so perfectly matched to Ms. Parker’s, that he, as a newcomer, is fresh and destined to become a new force on Broadway.

Between the great acting onstage and precise direction, suffice it to say that Adam Rapp has written the most fulfilling, engrossing play of the season and it is open to each viewer’s interpretation, which is the stuff of great theatre.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 25, 2019
Reviewed at October 24, 2019 press performance.

‘THE SOUND INSIDE’: Mary-Louise Parker & Will Hochman. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘THE SOUND INSIDE’: Will Hochman & Mary-Louise Parker. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘THE SOUND INSIDE’: Mary-Louise Parker. Photo: Jeremy Daniel