In Next to Normal, grief and loss, the unwieldy and unstable, are rendered controlled by the man, Dan (Jett Pangan), the husband and father who keeps things together by falling back on Western medicine and by staying. His crisis is one that’s rational: he knew Diana (Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo) before the psychological breakdown on which Next to Normal begins and is hinged upon. Diana’s crisis is expectedly emotional, where the loss of a child is not just personal, it is also one that’s physical: where you might only know of soul and spirit because you feel its weight.