Two aspects of the loss of sense-of-self were on display at the Olney Theatre Center last night (10/31): one derived internally from a medical abnormality, the other externally imposed by the state.  Both strikingly were represented in music, a fitting selection since the primitive brain seems to respond to tunes and rhythms - it's "first in, last to go" feature was immortalized in film by the deactivation of the computer Hal in Kubrick's 2001: Space Odyssey, whose last act is to sing the ditty "Daisy, Daisy."   The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat,  based on a case study by neurologist Olivers Sacks, M.D., was conceived as an opera, while Every Good Boy Deserves Favour was loosely organized as a play, described by Tom Stoppard as a piece for actors with orchestra, with music by André Previn.

The Man was the less successful enterprise.  Perhaps the theme of a neurological impairment - a form of visual agnosia (difficulty in recognizing objects) - does not lend itself to operatic treatment.  Sacks' narrative is sort of a diagnostic quest journey with a philosophical rumination on the meaning of self in particular and intelligence or judgment in general.  The libretto by Christopher Rawlence and Michael Nyman, assisted by Michael Norris, is a pretty straightforward distillation of that account.  Heavy on extended recitative, with music by Michael Nyman which seemed too literal to the emotion and situation at hand, and played a bit too loudly by music director and pianist William Lumpkin for the small performance space at the Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab, the work left the audience struggling to make sense of the story.  

The probing Dr. S was played with sensitivity and a strong tenor voice by Daniel Gerdes while the patient, Dr. P (a musicologist), was portrayed by Gideon Dabi, who captured the frustration of his character and gave me a new and pleasing take on baritones who are usually cast as villains.  The compensatory strategies of Dr. P - he uses music to organize his world - were poignant as anyone familiar to with an Alzheimer's sufferer will know.  Jessica Stavros gave a spirited, stand-by-your-man portrayal as Mrs. P with a powerful upper register soprano, though her distinctive vibrato obscured many of the lyrics.

Director Jim Petosa deftly guided the actors' movements and blocking on Sasha Golstein's succinct black and white tiled set, which was nicely complemented by the gray costumes of Kathy Whistler and the penetrating lighting of Tony Kudner.

A much better experience awaited theatergoers at Olney's Mainstage in a superb staging of the rarely performed Every Good Boy Deserves Favour.  (The title comes from the mnemonic for the treble clef scale, EGBDF.)   Two patients in a Soviet-era psychiatric hospital named Ivanov (Alex Mickiewicz) and Alexander (Duke Doyle) - the former frankly psychotic, the latter a despairing dissident - organize and fortify their realities around music and writing, respectively.  All of the wonderful Stoppardian motifs are on display in this 1977 work:  dual settings, literary allusions (to Chekov's Ivanov), wordplay, offbeat humor, scientific riffs, and a huge theatrical challenge - a gauntlet - thrown down: a play to be performed with an orchestra.  Director Jim Petosa, with his talented cast, and conductor William Lumpkin, with 2 dozen or so accomplished Boston University musicians (many strings, some horns, and a few percussion instruments and woodwinds), more than rise to the occasion and delivered a mesmerizing performance. 

Mr. Previn's score is arresting at times; the fluidity of the strings, the accenting of the brasses, the beat of the drums, work to enhance the drama.  It felt like an extremely versatile composition, which could have served also as a stand-alone classical work or movie soundtrack, both of which are in the composer's repertoire. Against a backdrop of a suspended ceiling fashioned from chairs, music stands, and crumpled sheet music and set with beds and desks arranged in split scenes by Steven Meyer and thoughtfully lighted by Dale Placek, the antic characters of Mr. Stoppard's imaginative mind spring forth.

Mr. Petosa creates a theater piece that is part farce and part fairy-tale, a fractured one at that, in the split staging. Realizing as Joe Orton did, that to be successful as farce it must be played seriously, the play accomplishes just that: the shocking force of what the two principals face is delivered powerfully, with an engagingly quirky performance by Mr. Mickiewicz and an introspective portrayal by Mr. Doyle.  These mirror images, doubles in a weird kind of anti-logic, play off well against the ever enabling Doctor - pills, advice, and a ticket to ride are all ready for dispensing - who is comically realized by the assured Bill Gardiner. 

Meanwhile, in split scenes a teacher who's working towards being a Dominatrix (Down Boy!) played by the delightfully arch Paula Langton, is trying to hammer in a few home truths to Alexander's son Sacha, portrayed by David Rosenblatt with the right degree of sullenness.  Mr. Stoppard's conceit seems a little forced here, an area he would later clarify in Arcadia and Rock ‘n' Roll.  Paul Leopold has an impressive cameo finale as a deus ex machina Colonel who arrives larger than life, on stilts, and finds "a solution which is simple, clear, and wrong." The overall intelligent direction, Mr. Placek's stunning red lighting and a costuming flourish by Elisa Sebra, who throws each of the characters into sharp relief, give clarity to the ending.  Alexander may have compromised his values, but he'll live on to fight another day through his child.

For an overview of the entire InCite 2009 Festival, which these plays form a part, check out http://www.bu.edu/cfa/incite/.  There will be a musical performance at the Kennedy Center on 11/2.         

Those with more interest in the music and its relationship to the brain may want to look at Daniel Levitin's This is Your Brain on Music.  Mr. Levitin's provocative thesis is that music is hardwired into our cortex.  We develop our expertise usually early, then often; with repeated exposure, everyone becomes musically adept.           

Sound check: The Man - moderate to high sound levels; Every Good Boy - low to moderate with some high sound levels

Program notes: The Man - fair, this show cries out for some overview; the use of surtitles should be considered; Every Good Boy - average, while some director's notes were provided, the understanding of this seldom performed play could have used dramaturgy notes

Applause meter: The Man - 2+ hands, a noble effort; Every Good Boy - 3 ½ hands, highly recommended