Amidst the clatter of everyday life, and even everyday entertainment, it was a pleasure to settle into the two-people-in-a-room dialogues that intimate this play. Cal Bartlett perfectly brings to life the play's main character -- a retirement age police officer. His physical stature, haircut are dead on. The first act consists almost entirely of these intimate two person dialogues. The acting from all is strong, accented with nice pauses, dynamics. These actors make their written personas resonate live on stage. It doesn't hurt that they've got great real dialogue from the script with which to work.

I was completely compelled without a single explosion, site gag or loud thud. That said, the first act ends on a more traditional dramatic twist, which serves to open a second act that more often than not has three or four people in the room. A few times that fourth person cluttered an otherwise nicely built tension. I'm sure the hope was that the comedic releif would enrich the play. At least for me, it did in the first act, but not so much in the second.

Over all, it's a very sweet, engaging piece. Miller avoids tieing the conflict to resolution too nicely in the conclusion. And he seems to delight in braiding a sort of melancholy into moments of hopefulness. The play left me considering the many choices I've made in my life, and the many I have yet to make. And left me with a wish that those in relationships of family or otherwise will be brave enough to broach difficult topics before they erode into chasms.

-- Books by Author/Illustrator Ross Anthony --