The Sound Inside: Adam Rapp — fiction or reality

That moment before the play begins.

On 8 July I went to see ‘The Sound Inside’ by Adam Rapp, directed by Stella Reid, and starring Dulcie Smart & Kieran Charnock — at Circa, in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, Aotearoa NZ. It runs at Circa until 2 August.

The two characters are both writers: a creative writing teacher and one of her students. The play has themes of suicide and euthanasia. I loved the emotional intelligence and the subtle humour around a writer’s take on life’s serious and ludicrous moments.

Excellent writing. And the acting — how the two characters move seamlessly from scene to scene on the set (Meg Rollandi is the production designer). Such a tight performance.

I stayed for the Q& A afterwards, where I learned what the actors and director thought was happening in this play — the boundaries between fiction and reality are unclear. Dulcie Smart asked what the audience believed was happening at the end, and then gave her opinion. Those present were sworn to secrecy — so no spoilers here.

But what an ending — the director, Stella Reid, said she was was excited to see how the audience was going to respond to the ending — I can see why.