The magician and mentalist brings his interactive show to the Greenwich House Theater.
“What’s on your mind?” Audiences have to answer that question at Mindplay, now running at the Greenwich House Theater. But magician and mentalist Vinny DePonto goes beyond just reading minds to explore the common experiences we keep locked away in our brains. Equal parts illuminating and confounding, Mindplay combines magic and storytelling, and makes for a fun — and occasionally touching — evening.
The word Mindplay, and the show itself, can be broken up into two parts. The stuff of the “mind” is DePonto’s magic, which is top-notch. DePonto isn’t just doing tricks, he’s taking the audience on a journey. Every time he reads an audience member’s thoughts, he creates a plot complete with rising action, climax, and denouement.
Aside from a couple of illusions, DePonto is pretty much doing the same trick over and over, yet each time the reveal is surprising and delightful. Part of this is because of the wide variety of participants – and what a lovely, diverse cast of characters New Yorkers and a few scattered tourists can be. Mindplay makes their fears, memories, and loved ones as central to the show as DePonto’s own life.
Anyone uncomfortable with sharing personal information (mostly superficial) is asked to exit as the show gets underway. No one left at the performance I witnessed, implying that DePonto quickly establishes trust with the audience. One way he does this is by acknowledging that he is tricking the audience. He tells us he can’t read our thoughts in any other context. Acknowledging he is tricking the audience is a hallmark of DePonto’s work. In Charlatan, his 2014 Drama Desk-nominated show, he revealed how his tricks were done, and then did them in a way that was obviously different from his explanation.
The “play,” or storytelling, part of the show is less effective. Though DePonto wants to take us on an exploration of “the mind,” as the show continues, he is alarmed to discover that we are going through the recesses of his mind, revealing some of his deepest fears and heartbreaking memories. This is not a bad throughline for a show, but in this case, too many other ideas are introduced along the way. Some of DePonto asides, like explaining how parasites infect mice and take over their brains, are interesting but serve only to segue into the next trick, rather than culminating in a revelation.
His most intriguing idea is the concept of the “mind palace.” This is a technique to improve recall by imaging pieces of information in an emotionally significant place. The idea works as the emotional core of the finale, but I would have loved to see additional exploration of it throughout the show. The storytelling reaches for poignancy, and occasionally hits it, but it needs refinement to land.
At the same time, it’s hard to hold any of that against Mindplay, because he and his illusions are so engaging. While it falters in the narrative department, it’s one of the best magic shows you may ever see.
The production elements are an achievement too. Sibyl Wickersheimer’s set is inventive, and DePonto uses it in various unexpected ways that are in tune with Andrew Neisler’s seamless direction. Kathy Ruvuna’s sound design stands out for its critical role in a few audience interactions.
Mindplay relies so much on the participants that it has the potential to be significantly different each performance. As I was leaving, I heard several audience members saying they wanted to come back. Mindplay is worthy of the praise.