Dear Evan Hansen

Dear Evan Hansen 

I was at the Teatro to watch "Dear Evan Hansen", been looking forward to seeing it for weeks and it didn't disappoint. The production is simply excellent, live theatre at its absolute best. A musical with a live band, they are not in sight but they are felt throughout the show. The show is seamless and flows effortlessly, the moving stage creates this seamless transition between scenes. The mood is blue and it permeates the auditorium, with blue LED lights flickering, set against a backdrop of screens that are most of the time blue. The screens are also a story-telling device that helped communicate the passage of time. They helped create sets for certain scenes by providing the backdrops and gave us visual cues when the content in the show went viral on the internet, reading all the comments and seeing all the likes on the screen made the experience even better. The set is glorious. I loved the fact that we could hear the conversations Evan had over the internet with his devices. The show is inclusive, we could hear everything, even what was happening in his head, his thoughts, ridden with anxiety. The live band are a nice touch, they are exquisite, the singing wonderful and the acting world class. From voice intonations, body language, hand gestures, micro-expressions and movements. Evan for example is overly anxious, his mind is always racing, he is nervy, uncomfortable, awkward, not sure of himself and just everywhere. This is reflected in his demeanor, tone of voice, expressions and gestures. His hands are always moving, head looking downwards, characteristic mumbling and fumbling, his favorite words to say "I am sorry". He is riddled by insecurity, he is a mess. 

The story explores depression, social anxiety and suicide. The tone is blue, sophisticated color considering the subject matter and link to depression. Evan Hansen, a high school pupil who suffers from depression and anxiety, who also has a broken arm has a hard time making friends. His mother suggests he should let other students sign his cast, that way he will make friends. A student named Connor whom he is not close to signs his cast and ultimately commits suicide. Evan lies about the nature of their relationship, claiming that he and Connor were best friends. The lies pile up and Connors family get involved. Now that Connor is not here anymore, grief makes them regard Evan as their own. They even offer to give Connor's college fund to Evan, something that enrages Evans hardworking single mother parent. Evan even manages to date Connor's beautiful sister - surprising, considering his level of social anxiety. He wins her heart by lying, fabricating narratives in the guise of them coming from his brother. The socially awkward Evan benefits immensely from Connor's suicide, his peers even start looking at him favorably but he can't live with himself so he tells the truth. It is a moving story about family, belonging, relationships and mental health. Social media is the focal point as we see a number of posts go viral. Viral posts that perpetuate a lie, but through the "Connor Project website", they also manage to immortalize Connors memory.

Stuart Brown is magnificent as Evan Hansen, he got the nuances spot-on, the mannerisms of someone who is socially awkward, the fidgeting, lack of eye contact, hand movements and voice intonations. His performance carried a lot of range, he made you laugh, he cried, he was vulnerable and he was awkward among other states. He is a phenomenal actor. Sharon Spiegel-Wagner plays Cynthia Murphy. Sharon is my all time favorite performer in the world!

Charlie Bouguenon is Larry Murphy

Keely Crocker is Zoe Murphy

Ntshikeng Matooane is Alana Beck

Justin Swartz is (family friend) Jared Kleinman

Micheal Stray is Connor Murphy

Lucy Tops is Heidi Hansen

The show is truly wonderful and the venue perfect. Everyone performs at a high level. It's beautiful to watch theatre that connects with the youth, theatre for the times, for the human spirit, theatre that tackles feelings of unworthiness, loneliness and well-being. Theatre that resonates with anybody despite your social standing and influence in the world. The world is plagued by anxiety, pills and other drugs only numb the pain but it doesn't go away, tomorrow it's still there and the weight is heavier. We sit with the pain because the world claims depression is not a real condition, meanwhile it eats at us until we can't carry on anymore. We need more stories like these to normalize depression and mental health, stories to make the common man feel like he is understood. Stories that will make us understand our world much better. 

Congratulations How Now Brown Cow Productions for a great show and a deserved standing ovation.

As always SamSays on the credits.

https://youtu.be/kTQD_dexP-E?si=D3IL0xDvLd3muzAT