The Sound Inside, Circa Theatre

The Sound Inside, Circa Theatre

Review by Kathryn Fitzpatrick.

The Sound Inside is a Tony Award nominated play by prolific American writer Adam Rapp.

The first rule of theatre is “show, don’t tell”. The Sound Inside doesn’t care. From the first line, much of the play is narrated by an Ivy League professor (Dulcie Smart); as things progress this power of control is picked up by her weird, obsessive student (Kieran Charnock).

It works out because their shared passion is creative writing. While we watch their story unfold, we hear chunks of other stories including the professor’s unhappy backstory, the last chapter of her “nearly out of print” novel and a precis of the student’s unsettling novella.

Themes swirl around like betrayal, violence and the ease of living a lie. The promise of a “psychological thriller” was overstating it for me, but it was certainly compelling and brilliantly performed. Shout-out to the production designer – the set was intricate and clever, making a jigsaw of 7 different locations including a snowy park.

The Sound Inside is on until 2 August 2025.