David Byrne’s “Theater of the Brain” is funny and gentle and disjointed

Some of the very best sections of “Theater of the Mind” happen after the demonstrate has finished, its prolonged tail cracking, whip-like, as you test to eat supper or slide asleep.

That is intentional, and just one of the most productive areas of a production that is essentially gentle and playful. Viewers members leave “Theater of the Mind” with a observe encouraging them to switch it above in their minds. “With a clearly show like this, what it is can often be exposed when we converse about it and rewind the encounter,” co-creator David Byrne writes. “You can change the tale at any time.”

The immersive, interactive output has been a long time coming. Its planet premiere in Denver on Tuesday, Sept. 13, follows a two-yr pandemic halt that uncovered the creators (Byrne and Mala Gaonkar), director Andrew Scoville and producers rethinking the contours. Regardless of what the variations, or doubling-down on themes, as the situation may be, they’ve resulted in a great-natured but lanky, disjointed creation.

Co-penned by former Talking Heads chief Byrne and businesswoman Gaonkar, the present is a partnership with Off Center, the experimental arm of the Denver Heart for the Carrying out Arts. “Theater of the Mind” adds credibility and value to the city’s renowned immersive scene (portion of the cause it’s established in this article), and is normally snicker-out-loud humorous amid its bittersweet drama.

Instead of seating a big viewers — as in Byrne’s Tony-successful musical “American Utopia” concert/musical — “Theater of the Mind” whisks groups of 16 persons at a time as a result of shifting “memories” of Byrne’s semi-fictionalized childhood. They are rendered in movie set-like detail as interconnected, themed rooms that endeavor to pull the rug out from less than our senses of vision, style and hearing.

Set at Northeast Denver’s York Road Yards, a faceless line of pink-brick docks, the display spans 15,000 square feet but feels intimate and labyrinthine. At the entire world premiere on Sept. 13, attendees guffawed and oohed-and-aahed their way via a limited, 75-moment narrative punctuated by experiments designed with neuroscientists in get to destabilize the brain.

An attendant originally guides the group by means of a doorway and on to the show’s setting up line — a nondescript space surrounded by identical, seafoam-eco-friendly doors. The 1960s-style purgatory would seem influenced by midcentury established design and style, a la Billy Wilder’s “The Condominium,” and fittingly, attendees are questioned to grab seemingly random nametags that further more enjoy with notions of id.

If you are not comfy remaining section of the demonstrate, beware: “Theater of the Mind” doesn’t give you a choice. On the premiere night, the actor-tutorial (a plucky, crisp Annie Barbour) dealt with a team with scripted dialogue, but also seemingly slipped out of character at moments to query them about their own activities. From a funeral parlor with a coffin/piano (it is as morbidly pleasant as it appears) to a mission-regulate area wreathed in wires and displays, the range of environments retains things moving quick.

“We’re all old mates below,” the dialogue essentially posits, and the intimacy is fast as you’re requested to introduce oneself to, dance with, and usually deeply take into consideration your fellow attendees. The exhibit picks up velocity as it winds on, primarily in moments in which Byrne (who is not current, but whose pre-recorded voice and songs is sprinkled through) leans into his absurd feeling of humor. An oversized, 1950s-style kitchen area helps make the audience really feel like a 6-12 months-old, pretty much inviting you to leap up on a enormous chair, a la Lily Tomlin’s Edith Ann.

If you’re into extra-textual encounters — or continuing to analysis and interact with the clearly show just after it’s over — “Theater of the Mind” is a smorgasbord. Sans playbill, you can scan a QR code on your parting notice that tells you additional about the experiments and how they function. But the production also leaves a lot on the desk, squandering a late-exhibit chance to make a digital-truth section even far more meaningful and interactive, and padding “scenes” with uncomfortable monologues.