Catastrophic Theatre's Life is Happy and Sad is Loving Tribute to Daniel Johnston and the Struggling Artist in All of Us

In 2006, Nodler premiered his first piece based upon the music of Daniel Johnston, Speeding Motorcycle, at Infernal Bridegroom Productions.

The piece became a hit rock opera which sold out two runs in Houston and later transferred to Zachary Scott Theatre Center in Austin.

The entire first act of Nodler's play is based on a tape Daniel Johnston made to his best friend, David, who lives in West Virginia. Set in 1984, the entire action takes place in a piano practice room at UT in Austin, where Daniel is making a tape for David, which is their only means of communication.

Nodler says that this play "is about creativity and friendship. It's about how lonely he feels; also, about how special David is to him, the importance of their friendship and how important it is to Daniel to create. He refuses to give that up and he and David (a poet) support each other in their creative goals.”

I would venture to say that what transpires in this first act is a direct and literal lift (albeit liberally edited) from the tape, thereby establishing the raison d'être of our hero and prolific artist, lyricist, and songwriter Daniel Johnston.

We witness the ins and outs, the humor, the brilliance, and all of the peculiarities of the manic depressive (and no doubt obsessive compulsive) personality of Daniel Johnston. This proves to be a brilliant character study, amazingly and memorably realized by Matt Brownlie, a wonderful musician in his own right, but here working out another day in the life of the songs and struggles of Daniel Johnston.

Although perhaps a bit long and perhaps too literally transcribed, the first act is a loving tribute to Johnston and the struggling artist within us all.

At the end of the first act in a bold theatrical move, Nodler brings to life Johnston's comic characters, "Happy" and "Sad." After Johnston has completed his latest tape to Dave, he hurriedly and nervously exits and his imaginary friends enter the rehearsal room and sit down at the piano, coolly and calmly, and play "Heart and Soul." 

According to director Nodler, “Act II is a fantasy concert, songs and scenes relating to themes on the tape. It's about his preoccupations at that time. He hadn't made any connections in Austin yet, and had had the first of several nervous breakdowns that made him feel even more alienated.”

 We begin again in the rehearsal studio, with moral support by "Happy" and "Sad" and then we skyrocket to a 1982 interview at Kent State with Johnston, where he talks about making a tape of his mother's rants and raves. Instead of hearing a funny tape of his mother's behaviour, an actor in drag comes out and does the shaming and yelling.

Personally, I think the scene would have been funnier had it simply been a playing of the tape.

I am not even sure it was necessary to have included the interview scene at Kent State, which does little or nothing to reveal the person of Daniel Johnston, which has already been deeply and richly drawn in Act I.

And then, Act II explodes with a rock concert, starring, who else, Daniel Johnston. This is the climax of the show, when all of Daniel's dreams come together in a hugely fabulous way.

Matt Brownlie superbly shares the heart and guts of Daniel Johnston in his tremendous turn as a rock singer, ably and powerfully backed up by Roky Moon and BOLT.

Scenic and light designer Kevin Holden makes great use of the large and vacuous stage at DiverseWorks. Holden creates a perfect rehearsal room front center downstage, flanked with multicolored sheets hung on rods that run diagonally from the back of the rehearsal room to the downstage walls. These curtains are later drawn by "Happy" and "Sad" to reveal the various scenes in the second act. Holden's lighting is perfect. Jodi Bobrovsky's costumes are detailed early eighties and her designs of "Happy" and "Sad" are excellent.

I left the theatre and wandered into the snowy winterland of last Friday evening wondering why Nodler didn't choose to trim the play a bit (particularly Act I), thereby creating a long yet satisfying one act rather than the more fleshed out (and somewhat tedious and repetitive) two acts that we experience.

But, all in all, Life is Happy and Sad is a powerful peek into the life of Daniel Johnston's journey as the musician's cult hero.

 And the play deeply touches all of us who have ever struggled to be heard and appreciated as artists and musicians.