New York Review: "Indoor Person" at Normal Ave
Katherine Hebert, Contributing Critic - New York City
In Normal Ave’s latest venture the world premiere of “Indoor Person” follows a high-functioning agoraphobe, Addie and the people in her life that are desperately trying to hold her together. What results is a tragi-comedy about mental illness, trauma and co-dependent relationships that I could not recommend more.
“Indoor Person” is playwright Kayla Martine’s first world premiere production and I was blown away by her piece, this is a writer who’s going places. Martine’s writing is poignant, hilarious and heart-wrenching, she manages to walk the fine line between comedy and tragedy whilst tackling the incredibly delicate subject matter. Speaking of this subject matter “Indoor Person” does come with an appropriately used trigger warning that I have to stress you should heed if you are triggered by interpersonal and violence, suicide and mental health conditions. However, I’ve always held the belief that there is nothing wrong with presenting your audience with difficult, potentially upsetting material as long as it is well-executed and the audience understands what they’re getting into prior to taking their seats. For this I can say Normal Ave handles this sensitive material responsibly, hence said trigger warning as well as hiring a violence director, intimacy director, dramaturge and psychologist to help put across this material in an effective way without being exploitive. And as far as Martine’s and director Andrew Garret’s handling of the material within the text I can do nothing but applaud their bold take on these topics. When handling sensitive material there is an unspoken balancing act between being authentic and not being edgy for the sake of edgy. All of the potentially triggering elements in this piece feel earned. And though at times they may seem gratuitous or graphic I strongly feel that if they were presented in any other fashion something would be lost.
This material is put across brilliantly by a well-rounded cast. Olivia Hartshorn portrays the titular “indoor person” Addie with a subtle strength and a fair amount of snark that endears the audience to her. Hartshorn is given the challenge of portraying a severely stunted individual without victimizing her and she does this to great acclaim. While Markia Nicole Smith’s take on Addie’s friend and caretaker Cleo manages to hold Addie accountable without ever feeling insensitive to Addie’s condition. And Peter Fanone’s take on Addie’s lovable brother Brendan adds some much-needed levity to the heavier sequences without ever detracting from the moment at hand. He plays this character with effortless charisma. Because of their portrayals, we empathize with their struggle of having to shoulder the burden of caring for the rapidly deteriorating Addie. This trio’s performances portray a nuance that isn’t often discussed when dealing with caring for someone with a mental illness. While the distant Reese (portrayed by understudy Paige Sciarrino at the performance I attended) has a rich inner life that we only glimpse from her brief moments onstage that leave the play with a foreboding tone far before any of the foreshadowed shit hits the fan.
Jessie Bonaventure’s set design is straight out of a trendy millennial’s Pinterest board which strikes a brilliant juxtaposition between the tranquility of their surroundings and the mental turmoil of the characters that reside there. This is aided by Ethan Newman’s light design and Lawrence Schober’s sound design that puts the audience in Addie’s mind as she experiences the subsequent panic attacks that her agoraphobia has plagued her with. These design choices make this piece incredibly visceral and the intimate space that the Medicine Show Theatre provides immerses the audience into the world that Addie inhabits.
I cannot recommend “Indoor Person” enough. I was blown away by the direction, performances, and design of this piece. It is easily Normal Ave’s strongest piece that I’ve seen and I can’t wait to see what they tackle next. Indoor Person is running February 27th,28th,29th at 8 PM and Sunday, March 1st at 3 PM. If you’re free this weekend this is not a piece to miss.