By Christine Yunn-Yu Sun
Earlier this year, the multi-award-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen was played at Art Centre Melbourne, featuring an all-new production design and direction delivered by Sydney Theatre Company and Michael Cassel Group.
The musical opened on Broadway in December 2016 and went on to collect six Tony Awards, three Laurence Olivier Awards and one Grammy Award, among others.
It was adapted into a film in 2021.
But this review is for Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel, written by American singer-songwriter and actor Val Emmich, in collaboration with the musical’s creators Benji Pasek, Justin Paul and Steven Levenson.
Published in October 2018, the YA novel tells a powerful story about grief, authenticity and the struggle to belong.
The first-person narrator, 17-year-old Evan Hansen, suffers from severe social anxiety and feels terribly alone.
He writes letters to himself as therapy, and when one of them is found in the pocket of fellow student and suicide victim Connor Murphy, Evan is drawn into a family’s agony over the loss of their son.
Desperate for answers, the Murphys assume the letter was written by Connor to Evan and the two teenagers were friends.
Instead of telling the truth, Evan tries to ease the family’s confusion and sorrow by painting a picture of Connor striving for self-improvement but ultimately succumbing to mental illness.
As the lie snowballs, Evan is tormented by guilt and shame.
Yet, having suffered from anxiety and depression all his life, he is determined to keep Connor’s memory alive.
One thing leads to another, and suddenly Evan is no longer a loser whose existence seems insignificant and irrelevant.
Instead, he feels loved and belonged – even when he knows this amazing feeling will soon dissipate and the inevitable exposure of his well intentioned fabrication will only lead to pain, anger and regret.
Evan is a flawed yet complex character.
His emotions are raw and entangled, constantly on edge and difficult to manage, and his feeling of profound and overwhelming isolation is truly heart-wrenching.
His desperate loneliness enables him to recognise Connor’s distress and depression, a fellow loner feeling worthless and hopeless.
Hence Evan’s imagination of their friendship is a lifeline not just to himself and the struggling Murphys, but also to the “community of alienated souls” who have ever felt unnoticed and forgotten.
“That’s the gift [Connor] gave me. To show me that I wasn’t alone. To show me that I matter. That everybody does… I just wish we could have given that to him.”
Evan’s lies are unforgivable but understandable, and have unexpected consequences for himself and those around him.
Meanwhile, the story gives Connor a voice, allowing readers a glimpse of his heart and mind, as well as the inner workings of the Murphy family whose story is not Evan’s to tell.
Particularly worth noting is the real reason why Evan broke his arm, which is sufficiently explained in the story.
There is much heartbreak, but the overall message is hope, understanding and support.
Highly recommended.
