Mental State
A trio of young adults grapple with the impact of bipolar disorder in Jump/Cut.
Friendly ire: Dave (Keith Conallen) attacks roommate Paul (Christopher Bohan) in Jump/Cut. (photo by paola nogueras)
The Flashpoint Theatre Company continues its mission of presenting unconventional drama with the thoughtful staging of Neena Beber's drama Jump/Cut.
The play is told from the perspective of Paul (Christopher Bohan), a struggling filmmaker who serves as the story's narrator. Paul shares his apartment with his best friend from high school Dave (Keith Conallen), who suffers from bipolar disorder. Dave's mind jumps erratically between reality and delusion, mania and depression.
Paul dreams of becoming a famous film director while Dave's ambitions involve writing the Great American novel. As the adolescents grow into men, Dave's mental state worsens. He spends his days on Paul's couch, smoking pot and swallowing Lithium tablets prescribed to keep his manic-depression at bay.
The apartment becomes more crowded with the arrival of Paul's girlfriend, Karen (Kristyn Chouiniere). Passionate about Dostoyevsky, Karen is working on a somewhat ambiguous project about a beautiful countess and the photographer who immortalized her. Although faithful to Paul, she yearns to be what she calls a "what the hell girl" and is attracted to Dave and his unpredictable bursts of creative energy.
Beber's dialogue can be impressively poetic. Too often, though, the writing draws attention to itself and the episodic tale is congested with annoyingly obscure metaphors. Additionally, Jump/Cut's structure is ill-suited for theater. Relentlessly shifting time, location and mood, the play feels like a film that's been awkwardly adapted for the stage.
Despite these shortcomings, director Karen DiLossi's production captures our interest. Navigating Jump/Cut's disjointed plot, she focuses our attention on the characters brought to life in vivid portrayals.
Bohan (who's emerged as one of the city's most promising actors) and Chouiniere give commendable performances, but their characters are not nearly as captivating as the volatile Dave.
"When you're not well is when you feel the best,'' Dave says, explaining bipolar disorder's dangerous allure. The disease's electrifying high makes him repeatedly abandon his medication and its emotionally deadening calm.
Conallen gives a convincing representation of Dave's manic highs and fatiguing lows, and like Karen, we're attracted to Dave's mix of innocence and impulsiveness.
At one point, Paul observes that a film's conclusion is far more important than its beginning. Jump/Cut begins with Paul and Dave as stoned teens debating the origins of the band Steely Dan. But the trivialities of youth are long forgotten by the time we reach Jump/Cut's potent conclusion, when Dave frees himself from the disease and drugs and finally gains control of his destiny.
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