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Dredging up some painful memories

“Accidental Nostalgia” keeps the narrative ambiguous

The brain is the biggest mystery of the human body. What we don’t know about the brain overshadows what little we do understand.

That is why Cynthia Hopkins’ one-act play, “Accidental Nostalgia,” asks questions more than answers them.

When Hopkins, playing the role of neurologist Cameron Seymour, cites the “False Memory Syndrome Foundation,” audience members often chuckle. It sounds made up for the play; however, Hopkins insists it’s a real foundation.

The foundation deals with a controversial disorder called psychogenic amnesia, in which a traumatic event causes one to forget the trauma – as if the brain is protecting its vessel by erasing memory. There is much debate over whether this is real. Because it cannot be proven with factual evidence, it comes down to a person’s word.

Hopkins’ play centers around a character with psychogenic amnesia. Inspired by her own experience of repressed trauma, Seymour sets out to investigate her own identity.

The play is divided into three acts. In the first act, Seymour gives a lecture on her book, “How to Change Your Mind: A Self-Help Manual for Psychogenic Amnesiacs.” This scene sets the stage for the next two acts: Seymour explains she will become her own research subject and try to attain her lost memory.

The search for cues that might trigger her memory leads Seymour to Georgia and Morocco, set in the final acts.

Throughout all three acts, Hopkins is joined by her band, Gloria Deluxe. “Accidental Nostalgia” makes heavy use of music to express the fragile and torn side of Seymour’s character.

“Music is interesting in terms of memory,” Hopkins said. “The part of the brain that remembers melodies could remain intact while other parts are damaged and forgotten. A lot of music is stored in the brain.”

While Seymour decides to search for her forgotten past, an important question lies underneath: If the brain erased memory to protect, should it be uncovered?

Though “Accidental Nostalgia” doesn’t try to answer these questions, it poses vital ones on the brain’s significance.

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