When Life Becomes Virtual

Here Lies Henry – Interrobang Theatre

A young man named Henry enters an empty stage and, after some awkward false starts, begins to unspool a variety of mixed   information for his audience. The title doesn’t refer to Henry’s physical position; it’s a reference to the lies that he’s about to share with his audience. Dressed in suspenders, bow tie and a summer-weight sport coat, skilled actor Scott Sawa sets out to deliver his character’s circular treatise on life, love and letting go.

Daniel McIvor’s verbose script was this company’s first production, presented ten years ago in Chicago. It was this original piece that launched Interrobang Theatre Project’s decade of interesting and provocative plays. With the pandemic still raging around the world, the theatre company has chosen to offer home audiences a viral presentation of their 2020 revival of  McIvor’s one-man play, filmed in front of a live audience. The production is nicely directed by Elana Elyce. It’s  appropriately augmented by Michelle E. Benda’s lighting and Timothy McNulty’s well-chosen sound design, with the entire presentation filmed and edited by Timmy Samuel of Starbelly Studios. The production kicks off the company’s eleventh season, aptly entitled “Off the Record,” and explores what happens when the world stops and life becomes virtual.

Henry, as beautifully portrayed by Scott Sawa, starts out as a frustrating fellow. He’s a guy apparently hired to give a motivational speech to a group of strangers. The audience becomes his empathetic acting partner, which also includes the home viewer. In a presentation that starts out jerky, unsure and self-conscious, Sawa’s indeterminate delivery makes us wonder where we’re going with this presentation. We’re never quite sure. Henry is nervous, hesitant and seems kind of suspicious (particularly when talking about setting fires or mentioning a body in the next room). He lacks the confidence of a true motivational speaker; but once Henry builds momentum with his eight stages of lying the audience becomes hooked.

Throughout the spiel, Henry often mentions his mother, with great fondness, and then he giggles; and when talking about his father, that callous man, after whom Henry was named, he always coughs. Then Henry launches into an involved lecture about his theory of life: You’re born, you live, and then you die. In between there’s love and lust, lots of music, and interludes of dancing with wild abandon. The character muses about all of his successes and failures in an attempt to find meaning in the choices he’s made in life. 

In the end of this 75-minute presentation, Henry finally becomes brutally honest and vulnerably real. Stealing a chair from the audience, he sits and removes his coat and tie while shedding his bravado. It’s then that Henry finally reveals his soul. For audiences who enjoy talky, often long-winded one-man shows, filled with deep thoughts laced with occasional bursts of humor, this is a fascinating examination of life, death, beauty, truth and, of course, a lot of lies.

Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas  

Presented February 5-25, and streamed on-demand via BroadwayWorld, by Interrobang Theatre Project.

Tickets are available at interrobangtheatreproject.org.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.