My overall impression
There are so many good things I want to say about this play, but I am finding it exceedingly difficult to come up with a good introductory sentence. Possibly, this is because “Inside the Mind of Me” is a theatrical gem that doesn’t fit neatly into any specific category. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Well, let me break it out for you. We’ll start with the plot:
“Mind of Me” is a drama with layered storylines that weave in a pattern complex enough to be compared to Inception. One might say that it’s a psychological drama, as one of the plot lines takes place in Me’s head. But there’s also a fair amount of present day, real-world action taking place, mixed in with memories–both intact and corrupted. Oh–and there’s an slight element of mystery as well.
Another thing that makes classifying this play so difficult is that there’s an eponymous character, but the entire cast is so good that calling this anything but an ensemble piece would be misleading. This is not to say that Michael Marcel is not excellent. As Me, he is by turns strong and fragile, boyish and grown up. His performance is riveting. But in live theater the best performances often come from actors playing off each other. Would he be as bright and uplifted without Kiré Horton’s Angel? As terrified without the menace embodied by Graydon Schlichter’s Circus? It seems doubtful. I could go on ad nauseum like this about each of the characters, whether they are interacting with Me or each other–but for the sake of “brevity” I won’t. Suffice it to say that even Erin Braswell, who is the observed observer and mostly stands apart from the rest of the cast, is fascinating in her silent presence on stage. Regardless of how you classify this, if you enjoy seeing masterful, collaborative performances, this is a play you should not miss.
The final classification complication is that the set is minimal, but there is an audio-visual component to this piece that makes it hard to call this as “minimalist” theater. You might even say that the bare bones set is an asset, not a deficit, as it only seeks to highlight the performances of the actors.
Bottom line: although this play does not fit well into one category or another, it is well worth both the time and monetary investments you would put into seeing it. There are three performances left. I highly recommend that you get to one of them before Fringe ends.
