29 Dec The Sound Inside

Attending a performance of The Sound Inside at Roundabout’s Studio 54 is a journey into a mysterious situation where I was left wondering “is the plot actually happening in real time or is it the imaginative words of a creative writing professor at Yale University?”

Such is the new play by Adam Rapp in his Broadway debut.

The play follows the story of professor Bella, her precocious student Christopher and their ensuing relationship of verbal jousting and murky intentions.

What made the play so intriguing for me was the consistent note taking done by Bella during intermittent monologue sections in which she discusses her life and this peculiar student who regularly shows up in her office (and to her chagrin, without an appointment!) for discussions about a book he is writing.

With this disruptive note taking, is she writing down what’s in her imagination to develop a story or notating what is happening for her in real time as she struggles to understand this student and where he is coming from? Such is the wonderful quandary I found myself in.

As the play progresses it becomes darker with the path ending in an unexpected, tragic event as the piece unwinds. Again, I was not sure—am I seeing reality or the basis for her next novel?

The Sound Inside is a fantastic rumination on the ties that can bind a student to a teacher and all the complexities such relationships face. Whether real or imagined.

The Sound Inside run through January 12.