NEXT TO NORMAL - Barrington Stage Company

n. And, given the increase in public awareness of mental

Barrington Stage Company’s production of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony-winning musical, “Next to Normal” about the devastating effects of mental illness on the family is an exceptionally good production. And, given the increase in public awareness of mental health issues since the play’s premier in 2008, more relevant today than before..

Diane (Natalie Joy Johnson) and husband Dan (BSC regular Alan H. Green), an ostensibly “normal” suburban couple with a teenage daughter Natalie (Madison McBride), experienced a trauma early in the marriage. Over the years, Diane’s worsening bipolar disorder manifests in her obsession with an imaginary teenage son Gabe (Adante Carter). Increasingly disengaged from husband and daughter and strung-out of all kinds of pharmaceuticals, Diane undergoes intensive therapeutic sessions with psychiatrist Dr, Madden (Joseph Morales) and ultimately electro-current therapy (ECT). Being “normal” eludes family life; even “normal” teenage affection eludes Natalie in her relationship with her adoring stoner bf Henry (Ben Clark). Ultimately, family bonds reach the breaking point

The book (lyrics, too) by Brian Yorkey is keenly observant about both emotional and medical aspects of mental illness: denial, grief, depression, suicide, drug abuse, psychiatric ethics, and diagnosis. Yorkey’s book is particularly effective about the over-prescription or just plain wrong prescription of psychiatric drugs; without being didactic, “Next to Normal” makes the case for proper treatment and medication.

The two-act musical is mostly sung-through,with about three dozen sung sequences, including reprises. The score by Emmy, Grammy and Tony award-winning composer Tom Kitt (“If/Then, “Almost Famous, etc) is largely alternative-rock; the score is best known for Act I’s soaring choral “I Am the One”, later reprised before the finale.

The cast is solid all around. Ben Clark’s tenor is particularly distinctive. The star of the show is Natalie Joy Johnson. After a minor role in Broadway’s ill fated “Lempicka” this season, she commands the stage vocally and emotionally here; her Diane has undiluted credibility.

BSC artistic director Alan Paul directs unobtrusively. Attention-getting are the full-backdrop video projections of select scenes, a technique most notably employed by Ivo Van Hove in his productions of “Network” on Broadway and “All About Eve.” in the West End. The projections neither amplify nor distract from the story; like all good theater; story and character are the source of drama. “Next to Normal” excels at both. h