The stage set for Neurochatter, written and performed by Sara Jane Harvey, divides between an artist’s studio, with paints and easel, and an academic’s study full of textbooks and intellectual games. The division is appropriate, as the play concerns a character coping with dissociative personality disorder symptoms, specifically multiple distinct identities.
Ambitiously, the play displays rather than describes the symptoms. The title is literal—events are playing out as conversations between the different alter egos in the mind of ‘The Host’ personality. ‘Mike’ is an overbearing academic who sees his role as analysing the situation in which the personalities find themselves with a view to achieving integration. ‘Elliott’ is an aspiring artist with more attitude than talent and a tendency towards hedonism.
The Host is so meek or has such low self-esteem as to develop, or to be hiding behind, personalities radically different from her own. The two alter egos are male, including clothing and body language, and have names, while the personality of the anonymous female Host is so timid as to be in danger of becoming overwhelmed by their increasingly dominant attitudes.
There are a lot of complex ideas in Neurochatter. A further personality—this time female—pops up to represent the Jungian concept of ‘The Shadow’: the part of The Host she regards as socially unacceptable and so has repressed. As The Shadow appears only once, the personality seems more a demonstration of authenticity than a means of driving forward the narrative.
The play drip-feeds details of the problems which arise due to the disorder: lost time and physical exhaustion, as one of the personalities becomes hyper and stays awake for days. Perhaps the hardest concept to accept, therefore, is that the personalities are regarded as therapeutic rather than problematic. Background details are given sparingly but indicate The Host is an abuse and suicide survivor and the emergence of the personalities is a method of denying or coping with an experience so traumatic, it can scarcely be acknowledged by any of them.
Sara Jane Harvey draws distinctions between the alter egos vocally, but they tend to be broad caricatures rather than convincing personalities. Although Elliott represents the emotional side of The Host, he is hard to take seriously, behaving like a Liam Gallagher-style loudmouth wide-boy. Mike is so doggedly intellectual as to be remote and uncaring. The Host is simply a void, willing to relinquish control in an effort to forget her past. Whilst one can sympathise with the predicament of The Host, it is not easy to like any of the personalities.
During scene changes, Sara Jane Harvey dances energetically to a diverse soundtrack ranging from Frank Sinatra to Frankie Valli, as if to suggest dance is the one thing uniting the different personalities and so representing hope of integration.
Although the staging of the show involves Sara Jane Harvey conversing with herself in different accents and pulling her own hair, it never descends into parody. It is surprising; however, the author does not exploit the opportunity for dark humour. A discussion between the personalities as to the practicalities of them having sex together seems to be begging for a punchline. The play remains true to the concept of The Host being withdrawn, but one cannot help but feel it might be more dramatically satisfying if she, rather than an alternate personality, announced her name.
Neurochatter is a dense and demanding play which does not talk down to the audience. From a dramatic viewpoint, a clearer demonstration The Host is willing to take a more assertive part in the running of her life might have strengthened the conclusion.