Piece Comment

Review of And, How Does That Make You Feel?


“And How Does That Make You Feel?” is an amazing radio drama that takes us into Stella’s world when she attends her first therapy session with her mother. The characterization is right on. We have Stella, the typical depressed and suicidal teen, her upper-middle class “I know my daughter better than she knows herself” mother, and the therapist who asks the same frustrating question, “And how does that make you feel?” over and over again. The acting is great, but what really makes the radio drama work for me is the background music. It drives the piece forward and provides transitions from reality to Stella’s recurring fantasies of hurting herself. (I love the montage of voices that represent the crazed ones in her head.) Still, it is sometimes difficult to tell whether we are in Stella’s mind or in the therapist’s office. But then again, clear distinctions between fiction and reality are rare in a depressed mind. I could easily relate to Stella, and I’m sure most teens could too.