Brenda

A familiar worry of young people as they age—“Am I becoming my mother?”—takes literal form in Cory Finley’s ghost story, in which a dead woman attaches her spirit to her living son’s body. The effeminate Wallace (Sam Bolen), his lazy roommate, Mike (Bill Coyne), and his colleague Jen (Emily Kron)—whom both men are attracted to—lead ordinary lives, struggling with loneliness and lack of purpose. But when Wallace’s body is hijacked by the soul of his mom, Brenda (Deirdre Madigan), Jen and Mike finally have a mission: to bring their friend back. Finley keeps the stakes low, however, by making Brenda’s possession reversible—in this world, the living and dead can switch places whenever they please, so long as they want it enough—and the production is hindered by a skimpy set and painfully unrealistic sound effects. Of course, we hope that Wallace will be given the chance to live his own life (fair is fair), but when the characters seem to have so little going for them, it’s hard to care much about who lives or dies.—Inge Crafford-Lazarus

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