Philadelphia Theatre Company’s ‘Night Side Songs’ is an empathetic look at illness and death

“Illness is the night side of life.” — Susan Sontag

If the purpose of art is to comment on the human experience, it would be difficult to find a more human statement than Night Side Songs, a new musical with local connections, currently playing at the Philadelphia Theatre Company. Created in association with the American Repertory Theatre, it explores the path of terminal illness and its impact, both personal and professional, on patients and caregivers.

The inevitability of the subject makes it personal for the audience and the stellar ensemble takes that connection even further.

PTC artistic director Taibi Magar’s smart staging is set in an intimate backstage environment. The performers walk us through a woman’s struggle with diagnosis, remission, relapse, and passing. With the fourth wall broken, the actors maintain continual contact with the audience, instructing and encouraging them to sing along, with selected lyrics provided.

There are flashbacks, for perspective. These were less effective. The 19th century sequence with a British woman occurs abruptly but provides some humor. The point of another retro moment, with a young, hippie guitarist, was unclear. But a third — a confrontation between medical researchers — provides a memorable line regarding doctor/patient relationships: “We are their generals, leading them in a war they have no choice in fighting.”

Highlights: Brooke Ishibashi is riveting as the afflicted Yasmine. Her transition from a joyous ensemble member to a patient experiencing a chemo reaction was superb. Robi Hagar’s stage presence established a genuine bond with the house. His rendition of the beautiful “So Will You” was a masterful study in encouraging and projecting hope. Jonathan Raviv, as Yasmine’s husband, exhibited impressive range and emotional depth. The ensemble’s passionless quoting of health care costs held an unnerving impact. The play also honors the pace and underlying tensions of caregivers, and the tireless efforts and dignity of hospital staff.

Despite the spare staging, this communal raising of voices effectively expands the space at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre. The audience becomes part of the process and the seamless narrative transitions. There is a naked honesty in the production that builds intimacy and trust. It shows that the challenges of loss and death require a sensibility that both the dying and their personal community will, and must, face together.

Daniel and Patrick Lazour’s gentle and ballad-driven musical score is most effective in this regard. Performed entirely by musical director Alex Bechtel and Jordan Dobson, it evokes empathy. Its folk-pop dynamic serves both the subject matter and the need to teach/elicit audience participation.

Much of the material draws from interviews with local patients and professionals culminating into this new musical work being generated in Philadelphia. “Previews” included performances at local clinics and hospitals, including Penn Medical. With the demise of the Prince Music Theater, our busy theater community is noticeably short on new musicals. PTC is to be commended for this world premiere.

The finale’s refrain is an unforgettable summation:

‘Will you let me know/I can let you go?/Can you softly say/You will be OK?’

These lines, appropriate for the dying and those left behind, send the audience away with a sense of peace and solace.

Actor and writer Carl Reiner was once asked if he feared death. “No,” he replied. “I’m not afraid of death. But I am afraid of dying.” As implied, it is the passage that is the challenge. And that it is the human experience Night Side Songs addresses.

(Community/Arts)

A new musical with local connections that breaks down the fourth wall to explore the path of terminal illness and its impact on patients and caregivers, both personal and professional.

⌚️ Through March 9, 📍 480 S. Broad St., 🌐 myptc.philadelphiatheatrecompany.org

Theater reviews are produced independently by The Inquirer without editorial input by their sponsor, Visit Philadelphia.