Point of View

Next to Normal is an attempt to make meaning out of an endlessly complicated chaos. It is an extremely nuanced piece of theatre in which no character is ever completely ‘right’ in their perspective, and they are not meant to be. Key themes of this play include mental illness, grief, and complex family dynamics. The play mainly follows Diana, who struggles to process the loss of her first child, Gabe. He remains a spectre in Diana’s mind and acts as the personification of her mental illness.

Diana’s perception of reality is in flux between a state of lucidity and one of fragmentation. In those moments of harsh lucidity, where it is impossible to look away from the reality in front of you, natural & less saturated tones of light will give space for the characters’ emotions to guide the story. Moments of fragmentation will use extreme saturated color, sharp texture and extreme angles of light to bring the audience into Diana’s mind and allow them to experience her perspective firsthand. As fragmentation visually depicts Diana’s mental illness, Gabe acts as its physical, personal embodiment. Gabe’s presence is not required for fragmentation, but the two both are at their strongest when they coincide in songs like I’m Alive and Aftershocks.

Dan keeps a facade up around his family, trying to hold their lives together as best he can while keeping his own grief buried deep within. He tries to counter the visual chaos of Diana’s fragmentation with artificial attempts and realism and warmth. In his rare moments alone, we get real glimpses into his his pain and instability. The artificial warmth he brings deepens into saturated orange tones as his facade falls away, reflecting (but missing the mark of) the happy, normal life he desperately wants.

Natalie wants nothing more than to escape her fragmented life and her “crazy” family. Playing the piano has given her a safe space, and it holds the promise of a bright future far away. She is pushing herself too hard and straining the relationship she has with her music, when she meets Henry in Everything Else; he brings the joy of music back into her life, and his pure, warm sunlight drives out the cold desolation that Natalie feels. This sunlight motif reaches its peak at the end of the closing number, Light: a sweeping gesture of warm sunlight eradicates the cold tone that has hung over the rest of the show, leaving a resounding feeling of hope as the characters ‘step into the sunlight’.