An ambitious new work that doesn’t quite work…yet.
Past life regression is a type of therapy that uses hypnosis to explore a person’s past lives in the hopes of finding answers for current issues. The new play Confabulation, by Matt Shvyrkov, attempts to utilize this therapy technique to tell a story. Unfortunately, the plot is a little too murky to understand, utilizing a confusing storytelling device that makes it difficult to comprehend. A few good performances are sadly not enough to help this production stay afloat.
Confabulation opens with Caroline, a young person joining a past life regression support group in the hopes of dealing with a “darkness” inside her. The leader of the group, Agnes, has questionable morals and a hard to place accent. We then meet the other three members of the group: Olivia, a woman who had been doing this therapy successfully, until others showed up; Shane, who had a past life as a cowboy, and now that is the only way he can find sexual pleasure; and Grant, who has been court ordered to attend these group therapy sessions. Unfortunately, the show never gives you a full opportunity to connect with any particular character. After the first third of the show, the characters shift back to a similar scene as the opening, and directly address the audience to announce that they are now playing different versions of these characters. The major changes being two characters’ sexuality, two characters' relationship to each other, and Agnes’ wig…and accent.
This theatrical device is attempting to mimic the idea of what past life regression is. The issue here being that no one is actively experiencing a past life. Agnes and Olivia merely switch their relationships to Caroline, becoming her mother, sister and ex, but the scenes are happening in the present. It makes the story muddled and hard to follow. Then there’s Grant and Shane, who start out as antagonists, then switch to a sweet post-therapy hook up, then into a weird post trauma attacker/victim story. The stories never fully connect, and the cool idea of past life regression group therapy never gets fully explored. There are a lot of threads that get tossed up, but never caught on the way back down. I also found it very off-putting that only the main character, portrayed by the only black actor in the cast, is continuously referred to as having a “darkness’ within them that is inherently violent; truly, other characters do and say morally grey or corrupt things, but they are given more grace by other characters, so this felt dangerously close to harmful stereotype portrayal.
The production itself is designed well enough. The simple space is set up to feel like a cramped community center: 5 chairs, a bar and a trash can are used well to shift between spaces. There were times that the lighting and or staging could’ve divided the space up more to clearly define the limits of any given location, but that is overall a minor complaint. Director Jonathan Edmondson does well with the intimate scenes between two characters, particularly the scenes at the top of Act Two between Shane and Grant, and a later scene between Grant and Caroline, but occasionally relies on stage movements that don’t feel fully natural to the scene or performers. Triston Haq stands out as Shane, a character that could easily become one long running cowboy joke. He instead imbues him with a sweetness and tender openness that is refreshing to see. Raven Jane Adilene and Rain Diaz also turn in solid performances as Olivia and Grant, respectively. They both navigate their shifts in character well, even if they aren’t always the most coherent shifts.
Ultimately though, Confabulation is a confusing and unfocused show. Is it intentional, to make the audience feel like they're being taken through a past life regression therapy session? I’m not too certain. Regardless, this show is ambitious in what it attempts to portray, and while it takes a large swing, it ultimately misses more than it hits. The performers and director do their best with the material, but it isn’t quite enough to make Confabulation truly click and fall into place.
Confabulation is on stage now
at the Bob and Selma Horan Studio Theatre, Hamilton Family Arts Center
(62 N Second Street)
until October 20th, 2024.
For more information visit here!
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