Dead Brains

​ When it comes to off off Broadway in New York City, I always try to find the hidden gems that may be out there; places like the Merchant House, East Village Playhouse, Ars Nova and many more. Over the last five years or so, off off Broadway has been tied down to more political plays, usually show case plays which have ruined a lot off the make up of the smaller theaters that occupy both the West and East Village. So when a Kurt Vonnegut, or a Gogol at The Russian Theater Company comes around, I try to see them. I not only like the writers, I more enjoy the intimate setting and what the various theater companies do with their performances... how they direct it, how they move their lighting and so on and so forth.
 At Feverdream Lounge, an intimate East Village theater, "Dead Brains", a psycosexual thriller that was written and directed by Erik Champney is both up and down throughout the ninety- minute play. I am not a big fan of writers who direct their work; the reason being that often a writer is steadfast to their body of writing. An independent director is able to see things differently and as such, can bring forth a different and often better version of the piece.

 The stories premise is a decent one, it has some twists and turns and all three actors put in a good effort. In Champney's direction we never get the full "business" of the actors. I think the facial and body expressions lacked here and made this a monotonous thing to watch. While Jon Pratt as Henry and Charity Schubert as Philly had good chemistry, their body movements were hung out to dry making the dialogue and the plot weaker.

 In a smaller venue with low ceilings the sound becomes a difficult task. Here the lighting as well as the sound takes a little off the top and it adds to the distraction of the weak body movements. The audience never gets fully focused on this play because of these hindrances and the writing itself dragged at times. 
 As a psycosexual thriller, it never rises to a good level of suspense, it never titillates the audience and it never seems believable. In a intimate theater like this I was hoping for a real no- holes- barred type play, one that was raw, sexual and mind blowing, unfortunately we never got anywhere near those levels.