Small Mouth Sounds
written by Bess Wohl
directed by Rachel Chavkin
An Ars Nova Production
Pershing Square Signature Theatre
July 23, 2016
Production website

💉💉💉💉 out of 5.

This was was perhaps the most profound occurrence of déjà vu that I have ever experiend in the theatre. As my blog mentioned a few weeks ago, I took a week out of my theatre watching to attend a self-actualization weekend in the woods of the Hudson River Valley. We were kept in small cabins without any “luxuries”, fed a diet of grains and vegetables, kept off of any kinds of kinds of technology and, most challenging, kept in total silence for the entire workshop. Now, I walk into the theatre what do I see? A play that is set in the rainy woods with a group of 6 individuals (each coming from different worlds with hidden, different problems) all gathered together to free themselves from ego and “stinky thinking.” I SO got all of the jokes of smuggled potato chips, IPads under the blanket, and private eye rolling at the worst of cliches. I lived this play. I still had the return train ticket for this camp in my bag.

The play’s premise is simple. Take 6 very different people with inner demons; force them to live closely together; give them a daily lecture of questionable self-help; and watch them fill their free time with skinny dipping (yes there was some quite clear nudity in this show), crying, connecting, and rule breaking – all trying to honor that SILENCE. And for those, like me, who dread camping – it was laugh after laugh.

The play was just great to experience with so little dialogue. This was a classroom exercise in the power of subtext – and these actors rose to the occasion. Like a good play, the characters had a dramatic journey. They left the am a different person then they entered. As the New York Times found:

A disembodied voice, soothing and with a tinge of an accent (Indian?), welcomes the participants and sets the ground rules, after beginning with an allegory about a pair of frogs that inspires befuddlement in most of the guests. Clothing is optional at the nearby lake, although all “nudity must be in the spirit of respect, community and adventure.” Cellphones are verboten “except in the parking lot, inside your vehicle, with all doors and windows closed.” No refunds, no exceptions. And, of course, no talking.

See the play. You will love it. Namaste!