Breathing Time.Teatro IATI (see Off Broadway). By Beau Willimon. Directed by Aaron Rossini. With ensemble cast. Running time: 1hr 30mins. No intermission.
Breathing Time: In brief
Four New Yorkers are connected by a traumatic event in a comedic drama by House of Cards creator Beau Willimon. Aaron Rossini directs a cast of six in the premiere.
Breathing Time: Theater review by Diane Snyder
Those who know Beau Willimon from his work on the thrilling Netflix series House of Cards are in for a surprise: Almost nothing happens in his clever, meandering new play Breathing Time—until suddenly everything changes. The first half, set on the 95th floor of a lower Manhattan office building, has conscientious Mike (Lee Dolson) and freewheeling colleague Jack (Craig Wesley Divino) engaging in morning-banter mundanities that evolve into power struggles and culminate in Jack’s sorrowful monologue about his Vietnam-vet dad. Exactly when this scene is set becomes clear as a rumbling noise from outside reaches deafening proportions.
Then it’s three weeks later, and Jack’s sister, Denise (Shannon Marie Sullivan), meets Mike’s wife, Julie (Molly Thomas), trying to find out more about her brother’s life. But shared grief doesn’t translate into simpatico sentiments, and as their encounter dissolves into anguish, Aaron Rossini’s Fault Line Theatre production reaches full force. Willimon’s dialogue so thoroughly captures the rhythms of ordinary conversation that it can have a soporific effect in large doses, but Breathing Time is an ace showcase for its young cast and an unsentimental look at lives interrupted.—Theater review by Diane Snyder
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