Theater review
On a scale of 1-10, rank your positive feelings about the following combination of words: interactive improv.
Your answer may predict your affinity for Dacha Theatre’s “Dream, Carl, Dream,” a brand-new show now rolling at 12th Avenue Arts.
In this singular, laugh-out-loud theatrical experience, which I can only describe as having strong “Severance”-meets-“Inside Out” vibes, the onstage cast is a workforce of neurons who craft the dreams they will perform nightly for Carl (played by Kevin Tanner at the show I saw, though the actor in that role changes frequently throughout the run).
We in the audience are homunculi (in broad concept, tiny humanlike beings), brought into this psychological workplace, be-lanyarded and tasked with helping these poor saps increase the quality of these dreams. If Carl just remains calm and well-rested, he’ll be the best version of himself. Right?
Because each “Dream, Carl, Dream” performance will be unique and because surprises are part of the fun, I won’t tell you much else about this show — created by Nathan Whitehouse, directed by Gavin Reub and devised in collaboration with the company of performers — other than to give very special shout-outs to scenic designer Devin Petersen and props master Sam Edgren, both of whom very much deserve one.
Together, neurons and homunculi must weave together random prompts and stimuli from Carl’s day into dreams that will then be improvised by the neurons in a game show-esque endeavor that takes place inside Carl’s head. Rising stakes throughout the show make for increasingly bizarre dreams, and if there’s a more fun way to explore the brain’s desire to protect itself by avoiding hard things, I’ve never heard of it.
That said, these hapless neurons possess an Amelia Bedelia-like level of literalism that requires endless clarification, and I possess a strong suspicion of art that dictates how I engage with it. Among the performers I interacted with, there was a wide variation in the ability to, shall we say, read a room and encourage participation to everyone’s individual comfort and interest level. For a show fueled by (fair warning) big theater kid energy, both on stage and off, dialing in this crowdwork element feels crucial.
While I understand an impulse to overexplain the rules of this theatrical world, a fair amount of narrative throat-clearing in the show’s first half slowed down the storytelling and added up to a two-and-a-half-hour run time — there is no formal intermission, but you are encouraged to order drinks digitally throughout the show and allowed to come and go as needed.
So sure, not everything landed for me, but what a delight to experience an original piece of theater, crafted and performed with unbridled joy for the creative process. A show with a complete narrative arc that is also informed by audience participation and unique night to night? Wildly impressive. Risk aversion can wreak havoc on theater in uncertain financial times, and Dacha’s appetite for experimentation (and therefore, gentle creative provocation) rewards us all.
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