Krissy Fraelich, Brian Bortnick and Adam Hoyak (in the background) in NEXT TO NORMAL at The Eagle Theatre. (Photo credit: Chris Miller)
Let’s face it: thinking about mental illness is depressing–a trigger taking us down. But it doesn’t have to be.
By the way, this isn’t the review, but I am going to talk about the musical. The link is several paragraphs below.
We know reality depends on perception. That point was driven home when I reviewed the rock musical, NEXT TO NORMAL at The Eagle Theatre in South Jersey (local identification for people who live in southern New Jersey). The musical deals with reality and perception in a big way. While good plays engage us with a dialogue, the musical, too, can address similar topics.
The standard American musical used to be viewed as fluff entertainment–a way of setting up song and dance numbers. Today, most successful musical theatre productions work in the same way as dramas or comedies; they set us up to listen to a point of view–another’s perception.
What we see and hear on stage is theatre. On different level, a pithy musical like NEXT TO NORMAL informs us and makes us look deeper into ourselves. In this case, the subjects are mental illness and a few other societal problems. Granted, some folks may miss the intended deeper meaning while they are transported to another reality, but most of us are moved to see more than song and dance.
It’s not unusual for theatre to address important topics and differing views. NEXT TO NORMAL entertains us with beautiful, often haunting music and witty lyrics. Any musical, drama, comedy or any variation that successfully dramatizes important subjects usually makes for good theatre art.
Spoofs were invented because its satire masks the intended message, yet still we get it. It’s the same with good musicals like HAIR, LES MISERABLES, RENT and, of course, NEXT TO NORMAL–to name just a few.
This particular play focuses on how mental illness, seen close to home, affects family relationships and the behavior of others. The family has all the right intentions with the wrong result. The play and its music tell the story with sensitivity and, believe it or not, the reality of curing mental illness and families trying to cope.
People who are mentally ill see the same world differently. And, since their current reality doesn’t reflect our own, we are frustrated with their unusual, irrational behavior. While coping with the seemingly ever present illness and trying to understand another’s misperception of the world, loved ones may devote their lives to find a way to help, even though they may do harm instead. Sadly, it’s what families do.
In my review of the production, I focus on humanity’s inability to cope under such circumstances. With realities mixed up, it’s interesting to see how the situation comes to a conclusion.
Check out the review .
Reality, as we all know, is in our perception of the world viewed through our senses. We create a reality based on sensory input. We deploy all of the senses, if we have them, or as many as we do have. i.e. someone who has been blind or deaf or both does not have those sensations. Yet, the blind and deaf have different perceptions than those of us with all our senses intact, but their perceptions are based on the senses they do have. Their realities are as rich as any of our’s. What we see, hear and smell is filtered naturally by our brain.
Obviously, the brain is more than flesh and nerves. What makes it different is that it contains the mind, which is impossible to pinpoint with today’s technology. We do have a good idea where memory is stored. Many a science fiction novel has dealt with the repercussions of trying to change reality or control human behavior by enhancing unknown parts of the brain. The brain uses automatic responses that keep our organs working to keep us alive. It is also responsible for storing memories.
Memories seem concrete. Consistent. And, when they aren’t consistent, we see a need to correct that inconsistency.
Should we tell someone else what his or her memories are supposed to be because we shared the same moment together?
Our perception of the moment is a combination of the mind’s conscious, unconscious and subconscious thoughts, as well as our feelings, what we hear and see so we are assured no two memories are exactly alike.
From Colonial Theatre’s production of THE BOYS NEXT DOOR, Damien Ladd as the son and Jack Shaw as the wasted parent trying to make his son normal. Photo Credit: The Colonial Theatre
We can only approximate a memory by using facts. Memories can’t be confirmed by others. Only the facts can be confirmed. The reality of another who experienced the exact moment, and being in the same place in time–may be similar. Even the moment isn’t exact. That reality is always different, depending on who is living it. We are once again talking about individual and unique perceptions.
The photo on the left: A scene from THE BOYS NEXT DOOR, a play that looks sympathetically at being able to appear normal and the behavior of someone close. In this case the father. The schizophrenic son elicits sympathy from the audience, while the parent, obviously affected by his sons erratic behavior, is unable to cope and has a more dangerous sickness than his son.
To be sure, this is the abridged version of studying the brain, the mind and the idea of reality. To keep it blog size. The concept of reality is tied to all.
The brain, if we could use it completely, has more capacity than we can imagine. It has as much potential as a rather complicated computer.
What else the brain can do beyond current science is obviously unknown but speculated about especially in the areas of paranormal activity. Which brings up a question of reality once again. Mere mention of the word, “paranormal,” makes us take a look at a different reality. We think a person who has these unusual abilities inhabits a different reality, seeing the world with his or her extra perception.
The same can be said of a person who suffers from a mental illness–the reality is there, but the filter is broken. The brain may not be broken necessarily, but the mysterious and unique mind may be confused. Its ability to adapt is broken somehow. In layman’s terms, it is probably safe to say that the mind is a sum of all our experiences, including our unconscious ones we have in our dreams (yet another reality). Some of those dreams we remember, some we do not. But they are still there.
The human answer, as an outsider coping with all this, may be as simple as giving unconditional love.
There is no doubt that mental illness takes its toll on everyone involved. In most cases, it’s impossible to cure. That is today. Perhaps tomorrow will be different. The rescue of a person in need is risky, taking its toll on those affected in many ways–only a few of which are seen in NEXT TO NORMAL.
Maybe, the key to easing that frustration first is understanding that mental illness is not someone’s fault. Secondly, it is not always someone’s responsibility to try and fix the problem. And, thirdly to find a cure, if possible, is a long and hard road to travel.
We, humans, like to fix things. It makes us feel good, but only when our efforts seem to help. That’s the problem with mental illness; there’s never a complete cure, so we may never feel good.
Mental illness remains a disease that rarely comes with complete cure. Sometimes it is a biological anomaly that can be corrected by surgery. More often it is not. Maintaining a “next to normal” level of behavior through drugs and therapy may be the best we can do.
We have to understand our limitations and try to do more good than harm. In families where one person is sick, everyone is affected. It seems everyone should be involved in the “maintenance” and understanding–if that’s the best we can do.
Shaw's Reality 