PicksInSix Review: Theater of the Mind - Goodman Theatre

Heads Are Talking: Is Perception Reality?
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Sarah Frances Fiorello

David Byrne is simultaneously everywhere and nowhere at the Reid Murdoch Building on 333 N. Lasalle, where his and co-creator Mala Gaonkar’s immersive production “Theater of the Mind” has built a 15,000 sq ft home. Presented by the Goodman Theatre and running now through July 12, leave your preconceived notions of reality at home for a mind-bending 75 minutes of scientific-artistry or artistic-science experiment, I’m not exactly sure which. But that feels to be precisely the point.

Arrive early to lock up your personal belongings as no bags, electronics, or given name will follow you across the threshold of this journey with a group of 16 strangers. What follows is a neuroscience-backed exploration of all five senses—and maybe a sixth—lead by “David” who has gathered you all together as his former friends. Together you will explore, through David’s world, the pliability and changeability of your senses—the very things you use to form an understanding of reality and the people and things inside of it. If that sounds trippy, it is. But it’s also a beacon of hope: you are always free to change your mind.

“Theatre of the Mind” comes to the Goodman after its 2022 World Premiere at Denver Center of the Performing Arts Off-Center. It is produced by DCPA Off-Center founder Charlie Miller, who serves as consulting producer on the Chicago production. Radiolab fans will appreciate this episode, “The Theater of David Byrne’s Mind” from October 2022 which captures a live conversation between the Talking Heads front man and neuroscientist Thalia Wheatley on the magic of the mind at play in the immersive experience.

The creative and technical team of “Theater of the Mind” shine here and have produced a sensationally unique experience. Technical Director Dr. Heidi Boisvert and Technical Producer LeeAnn Rossi give us a world of wonder and awe, where one space seems more exciting and interesting than the next. Scenic Designer Neil Patel brings to life this imaginative immersion right down to every minute detail. Lighting Designer Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew and Sound Designer Cody Spencer ensure our total sensory experience hits the mark. All under the expert direction of NYC-based-Chicago-suburb native, Andrew Scoville, who brings together every production component without so much as a seam showing.

“David” is played by one of nine actors, one of the many reasons that no two performances—or personal experiences—will be exactly alike. James Earl Jones II guided my Friday evening group of sensory explorers and skillfully delivered as storyteller, entertainer, and provocateur.

“Theater of the Mind” is a personal exploration with coordinates in River North, but if you lean in, it’s sure to take you well beyond the confines of Chicago. The best theatre leaves us changed with an open invitation to think differently as a result. At the Reid Murdoch Building on N. Lasalle, you’ll get exactly that—a door opening to not just think differently about life but think differently about thinking. Are you ready for it?

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR | SARAH FRANCES FIORELLO is a graduate of Shenandoah Conservatory with a BFA in Music Theatre and a Chicago-based poet, writer, and performer.  Instagram: @writtenbysarahfrances

PHOTO|Todd Rosenberg

Goodman Theatre
presents
Theater of the Mind
Reid Murdoch Building
333 N. LaSalle
EXTENDED through July 12, 2026

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PicksInSix Review: Betrayal-Goodman Theatre

BETRAYAL: If You Know, You Know.
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

It is no surprise that there was high anticipation for the opening Monday of the Goodman Theatre production of Harold Pinter’s “Betrayal,” directed by Artistic Director Susan V. Booth. With a seasoned, all-star cast that includes Helen Hunt, Ian Barford and Robert Sean Leonard, the show is a fictionized account of Pinter’s own marital infidelity. It is a remarkably succinct play, told in reverse order with scenes that unfold from 1977, two years after the clandestine seven-year affair ended, to the moment of its inception in 1968 while delving into how these affairs of the heart occur in the lives of otherwise well-meaning and trustworthy adults.

On those last few points, none of Pinter’s flawed characters in “Betrayal” are even remotely close to well-meaning and trustworthy, with the exception of Nico Grelli whose comic turn as an Italian waiter is a delight. We know at the top everyone is playing with fire and it’s just a matter of time for all of the deception, tension and misinformation to be revealed. And when it ends, the 75-minute drama feels remarkably like it is just getting started.

Jerry (Leonard) is married to Judith (unseen) and was best man at the wedding of Emma (Hunt) and Robert (Bedford). As the backstory is revealed to its eventual beginning, the betrayals that the audience are already aware of are realized in such rapid succession that you may need a scorecard to keep track. It’s as if Pinter took a page from the Dale Carnegie playbook: “Tell ’em what you’re going to tell ’em; then tell ’em; then tell ’em what you told ’em.” He with him. She with he. Him with her. And that’s not counting the unseen who are affected, including, well, if you know you know.

Pinter was 38 years old and married a year when his longtime affair with Joan Bakewell began and in his mid-40s when it ended which is more than a decade removed from anyone on the Goodman stage. All that was a conscious decision by Booth in casting the work around Hunt. Leonard plays the closest to that range throughout in a fine performance even if the heat of the romance is a bit more of a glowing ember than a red hot flame. Beford’s Robert pulses with an undercurrent of hostility though not quite enough to serve as an impetus for Hunt’s Emma to seek comfort elsewhere.

There is no doubt that Hunt has the most challenging assignment of all. From the shocking truths of the opening scene to the first embrace, she is fascinating to watch at work mining the complex relationships with both men.  

This all plays out on the very stylized scenescape by Neil Patel that incorporates massive translucent panels providing a palette for Rasean Davonté Johnson’s rich projection design. The atmospheric sound design and composition by Rob Milburn and Michale Bodeen and lighting by Xavier Pierce all combine with Linda Rothke’s costumes to make Goodman’s “Betrayal” a unique and absorbing production.

PHOTO|Joan Marcus

GOODMAN THEATRE
presents
BETRAYAL
170 N Dearborn St

EXTENDED through March 30

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For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

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