Painful Class Conflict and Youthful Disaffection: Everybody Sing! ‘Dead Behind These Eyes,’ a Karaoke Play

In a black-walled basement room at an East Village karaoke bar, we received the welcome news: No one would be forced to sing. The makers of Dead Behind These Eyes, which is billed as a karaoke play, understand the need in this era of immersive theater to keep the bashful from bolting. But how many shy people does it take to thwart an interactive performance in a tiny space? Among the gaggle of a dozen or so people gathered Saturday night beneath a pair of mini disco balls, few were extroverts, and the site-specific piece never did jell. It’s fair to ask: How much of that was our fault? Not all of it. Created by the company Sister Sylvester and presented with the Abrons Arts Center, Dead Behind These Eyes repurposes dialogue from John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger — the venomous 1956 drama of class conflict and youthful disaffection — alongside a choppy blend of video, dance and song lyrics, whether spoken or sung. There is, in fact, not all that much singing, and very little by audience members.