Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Coming of age is a harrowing thing: Eisa Davis’s ||: GIRLS :||: CHANCE :||: MUSIC :||, Martyna Majok and Aimee Mann’s take on GIRL, INTERRUPTED

• By drediman
• June 5, 2026
• No Comments

Currently Off-Broadway, you’ll find a pair of somber coming-of-age plays — both with a heavy reliance on music — that bring high stakes to their depiction of the journey from girlhood to adulthood. Who knew that growing up could be so harrowing? As always, read on for my thoughts.

GIRL, INTERRUPTED
The Public Theater
Through July 12

Last night, Martyna Majok’s highly anticipated stage adaptation of Susanna Kaysen’s bestselling 1993 memoir Girl, Interrupted (RECOMMENDED) opened Off-Broadway at The Public Theater (most people may know the material through the 1999 film version starring Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie). In short, the piece tells the story of a younger Kaysen, who as a teenager was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for her volatile behavior — later diagnosed as borderline personality disorder — and suicidal tendencies. While at the facility, she befriends a band of mentally-challenged girls, most notably a free spirited sociopath named Lisa, with whom Kaysen develops an intimate bond with. One of the adaptation’s key creative collaborators is singer-songwriter Aimee Mann, who provides the memory play with a collection of clear-eyed songs — largely sung by Kaysen and her newfound friends at the hospital as reflections of their fraught mental states — as well as atmospheric incidental music underscoring. Although advertised as a play with music, the work is solidly in the realm of musical theater in my estimation. Much like Duncan Sheik’s work for Spring Awakening, Mann’s songs artfully paint each character’s troubled psychological states with delicacy and sensitivity, as if in recognition of the insufficiency of dramatic dialogue to do the job justice. As such, the musical version of Girl, Interrupted delves deeper and registers more empathetically than its aforementioned film equivalent, which seemed more keen on sensationalism. If anything, the play’s solemn tone and sparing use of music calls to mind the lowkey vibe of the Tony-winning musical adaptation of The Band’s Visit. The simmering, dimly-lit staging by veteran director Jo Bonney, which features subtly emotive movement by Sonya Tayeh, casts a moody spell that brings out the aching melancholy of Majok’s emotionally naked if still tentative adaptation. Despite being primarily Kaysen’s story — portrayed with unapologetic steadfastness by Juliana Canfield — the production operates like an ensemble piece, boasting grounded performances of haunting individuality that linger rather than rush through the story.

||: GIRLS :||: CHANCE :||: MUSIC :||
Vineyard Theatre
Through June 21

Over at Off-Broadway’s Vineyard Theatre just off of Union Square, you’ll find ||: Girls :||: Chance :||: Music :|| (RECOMMENDED), the latest idiosyncratic theatrical creation by Eisa Davis (co-creator of the concept album Warriors with Lin-Manuel Miranda, The Essentialisn’t recently at HERE). A co-production with American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, the play tells the story of four high schoolers in a summer music program in Berkeley, CA who embark on a life dedicated to music. Along the way, these distinct and budding personalities — each dealing with raging hormones and their own issues — navigate tenuous friendships and possible romances. Beyond this relatively straightforward premise, Davis’s play is a slow-burning meditation on the delicate and unpredictable ways in which life has a tendency of transpiring. Indeed, it must be said that ||: Girls :||: Chance :||: Music :|| takes its time to unfold, emphatically. Both Davis and director Pam MacKinnon have settled on deliberately lax pacing, which some theatergoers may misconstrue as dull nonchalantness. Indeed, much like the teenagers depicted, the play operates in its own time and on its own terms — encouraging viewers to lean in and immerse themselves in the adagio of a play the playwright has created, which is admittedly challenging at times given the odd lack of consistent dramatic tension to latch on to. The production, it would seem, would benefit from a passionate and upbeat allegro movement to contrast the serious introspection on display. The only time the play really lets loose is the soaring sequence during which the four teenagers collaboratively jam for a school assignment. Given how astonishing these young actresses are as musicians — the show revolves around a bespoke musical chord chosen before each performance — I wish there was more live music-making in the mix. But the fact that this collective synergy between the girls only strikes once potently exemplifies the ephemeral nature of life occurrences. Luckily, their acting is just as convincing, particularly Naomi Latta’s soulful and quietly magnetic turn as a troubled and mysterious percussionist who just may be the most talented and musically attuned of the bunch.