(To learn more about this show, please visit the show’s page here)

Performance 6/13/26 – The Apohadion

This (clap) Is (clap) Storytelling (clap clap) !

First things first: PUPPETS. Ya girl loves puppets and this gave me three. Shadow puppets. Marrionettes. Hand puppet. And maybe an accidental second shadow puppet of Evan’s silhouette on the wall from the lighting set up at the Apohadion, which is a happy accident of additional layers to this show.

A Different Gage recounts the true story of Phineas Gage, a railway worker who was impaled through the skull in a workplace accident, and lived. Through the inevitable damage to his brain, Phineas’s personality changes post-accident, yet he is able to remember everything that happened. Phineas is an Everyman who is suddenly catapulted to the spotlight in the medical world and into the oddities circuit. We meet Phineas at different stages of his life as he navigates this incredible milestone changes, an often lonely endeavor.

Our solo-actor Evan presents Phineas through shadow puppets and personal embodiment, while other characters of this narrative appear as additional shadow puppets, a marionette of Doctor John Martyn Harlow, and a hand-puppet to represent Phineas’s niece. The world is established through the shadow puppet theatre built out of a steamer trunk, immediately rooting us in the mid-1800’s America, and through Evan’s simple yet effective period costuming.

A Different Gage is a master class in storytelling techniques, blending the oral tradition with simple puppetry with specific acting choices to guide us through Phineas’s story; with the added bonus of Evan clearly loving this work. He is able to transition between numerous characters and different points of the narrative seamlessly but specifically, and he handles his tools and the words spoken with a gentle yet pointed reverence. While parts of this story are gruesome and melancholy, there is still so much joy in sharing Phineas with us. And please do not read the term simple as “easy” or a judgement, it’s the opposite: the writing behind this piece is so strong, that these “simple choices” are elevating the craft and the story.

In presenting any story on stage, we often ask ourselves: is this a window into another world, or is this a mirror of our own? A Different Gage does both. The shadow box theatre presents a literal window, while the simple and very human gestures of puppetry makes each character immediate and recognizable. We meet Phineas outside of Barnum’s Museum, but the interaction between Phineas and his puppet-observers mirrors the conversation of ethics and sensationalism back to us without passing judgement. Shadow puppets are our vessel for seeing Phineas’s accident, clearly laying out the trauma he experienced without alienating the audience with realistic gore. These details are important because it keeps the story immediate and effective, while trusting us to use our imagination to fill in the details.

This piece is smart, heartfelt, whimsical, and true. It feels like a love letter to craft, and to Phineas himself. If you don’t know this story, please check out this show and then do some research! Both are incredible examples of what humans can do.

Submitted on 6/15/26 by Allison McCall, PF26 Independent Review Team

Performance 6/15/26 – The Apohadion

I’m such a sucker for a show like this. Simple theatricality that evokes so much more than spectacle. The story of Phineas Gage, you may have heard, who survived a hole in his head from a railroad injury in the 1800s. The use of puppetry including shadow puppets projected through an old trunk and a tour de force performer who doesn’t miss a beat changing characters all felt like I had paid my nickel to see the traveling show in the big tent. I coulda sworn there was a musty canvas tent and sawdust on the floor. A thought-provoking story told in the best way to highlight the questions and mystery of it all.

Submitted on 6/15/26 by Linda Shary, PF26 Independent Review Team