ARCADIA

Andrew Garman accomplishes a magnificent feat as he portrays a character named Bit over the course of 50 years. Born in a New York hippie commune in the late 1960s, Bit evolves into a quiet, introspective man in post-9/11 New York City—a journey Groff weaves with lavish visual imagery and imagination. Bit witnesses the dissolution of his childhood utopia, mired in idealism and a love of nature. With subtlety, Garman voices Bit's youthful innocence, wonder, and frustration and then segues seamlessly to his muddled state as an adult. He is at once both joyous and tragic, a dichotomy that is utterly consistent with his unconventional upbringing. Garman's performance brings to light Bit's stark yet tender perceptions of the "real world's" humanity—"so fragile the social contract . . . the invisible tissue of civilization." A.W. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2012]