A new year, a new term of theatre, A New Brain at the Corpus Playroom — and, perhaps, a new kind of production to what you might expect.

A New Brain is a (semi-)autobiographical musical by William Finn and James Lapine, brought to the UK for only the third time in this impressive production. The story, portrayed entirely through song, follows aspiring composer, Gordon (Hugo Gregg), who suffers a brain haemorrhage and is plunged into a world of hospital beds and risky operations. We see Gordon and those around him navigating the trauma and fear of his condition, while Gordon still perseveres in his dream of writing a timeless song.

Music is not just a feature of this production; it is the driving force behind both the story and its portrayal — and Felix Elliot is the driving force behind the music, as both musical director and on-stage pianist. His solo accompaniment maintained the energy of the production throughout the entire runtime (and beyond), providing an unflappable base from which the actors could grow. The singing is of a high standard throughout, but it truly excels in the ensemble numbers. These are complex songs, full of polyphony, call and responses, and a cappella parts, but each one was highly polished and well arranged. The layered melodies wove wonderfully around each other, forming powerful crescendos and beautiful harmonies. It is a shame, though, that the smaller-scale songs did not have this same level of polish. The duets, especially when a male and female pair, often failed to blend and, at times, the two voices could sound like they were in two separate keys.

Catchy songs and fantastic harmonies that will start off your term on a great note

This was a peculiarity of the duets, though, since the solo performances were all impressive. The standouts were Georgia Greig as local rough sleeper, Lisa, and Freya Cowan as Gordon’s mother, Mimi. Greig takes a rather minor role and delivers it with a punch. Her vocal range and power see her perform high-energy, high-emotion songs with almost note perfection, while simultaneously producing laughs through audience interaction and physical comedy. Freya Cowan similarly displays her vocal abilities with powerful and tender passages, but what stands out in her performance is the emotion. In Cowan you can feel the grief, the fear, the anger of a mother worried for her son.

However, Cowan’s emotive performance stands out largely because her level of emotional depth is not matched across the production. There are moments of it — the scene between Gordon’s boyfriend, Roger (Joseph Lucas) and Lisa is a touching one — but generally I did not feel the emotion of the narrative. This story has at its heart a highly traumatic event (a risky operation), but I could not see in the faces of the singers, or hear in their voices, much trace of the stress, the fear, the denial, and all the other emotions such an event causes. Many of the songs are laced with humour, but there isn’t enough contrast between that humour and the emotive power of the story. This lack sadness means there is no strong sense of narrative movement — you cannot emerge from fear and sadness if it has never been truly expressed in the first place.

The overarching mood of the production, though, is one of joy and musical happiness, and this certainly comes across. There are many hilarious moments, from humorous lyrics, like the Laws of Genetics song, to the ever-sassy ‘nice nurse’ Richard (Zhenbin Zuo), and the sparkly-frog-costume-wearing Mr Bungee (Christian Longstaff) — this is the jewel of Jenny Cyffin-Jones’ well-crafted costumes.

The choreography certainly deserves a mention. Tess Bottomley had a daunting task, considering the entire production is sung, but she managed to create dynamism throughout. The showcase songs each have their own style, using larger group blocking when emphasising Gordon’s isolation, or weaving movements for chorus-dominated songs, or playful dances for hallucinations — the use of torches in one song was particularly inspired.

This is undoubtedly an impressive production. The musical aspects are all very well done, from the universally high standard of the singing to the choreography, harmonies, and onstage accompaniment. Likewise, the light-hearted, comedic tone is achieved nicely. However, the production lacks the emotional variation to make it truly standout. Nonetheless, A New Brain is a heart-warming piece filled with catchy songs and fantastic harmonies that will start off your term on a great note.

A New Brain is showing at the Corpus Playroom between 11th-15th October