Donny's Brain

by Rona Munro

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

The whole time I listened to Donny’s Brain I could help but have this sense of déjà vu. I felt like I had seen this play or encountered it in some other fashion as some point in my life. Maybe I saw pieces of it performed in my days on the Speech Team in college or maybe there was a movie based on it, I don’t know. Anyway, as a result, this was a seriously weird listen to me as I wracked my brain, alongside Donny, trying to figure out why it was so familiar.

The acting was well done in Donny’s Brain. I enjoyed Jared Harris’s performance and thought he did a stellar job expressing confusion and anger as dictated by his character’s injury. However, it was difficult times to tell the difference between Emma and Trish unless they were in scene together. Their voices were so similar.

Overall, I did enjoy listening to this play. However, at some key points, like during the scientific discussions and in scenes involving Trish and Emma separately with Donny, I may have benefited from actually seeing the play or it would have been beneficial to have more distinct voices. While the play just ended without any real resolution to Donny’s plight, this recording contains some solid performances while exploring brain injuries and how this type of injury affects friends and family.
This review was originally posted on Second Run Reviews