“The First Deep Breath” Theater Review
The First Deep Breath has taken stage at Geffen Playhouse and it’s a juggernaut of family, race, and personal issues that leaves you spinning as you digest its meaning.
If we had one word to describe The First Deep Breath, it’s ambitious. This family drama has packed so many issues into 3hrs and 45mins it can leave your head spinning as you try and digest all the interlocking stories that appear during the run.
The synopsis goes as follows: Pastor Albert Jones and his family are proud leaders of the Mother Bethel Baptist Church and pillars of their community. Plans are being made for a special memorial service to honor their late daughter Diane on the sixth anniversary of her passing. But when Abdul-Malik, the eldest son whom Albert blames for her death, returns home from prison, the family’s veneer begins to crack as shocking revelations come to light. A ferocious new epic written by Lee Edward Colston II, The First Deep Breath chronicles the depths families will go to hide their skeletons from the outside world and each other.
The main throughline or one of them, is the takedown of the toxic father figure. But at what cost? To further expand on the family troubles you could sit back and reflect that the story also applies to a broader range of society, to those who are bible thumpers but destroy everything they touch in their desire to be so “perfect” in the eyes of outsiders. Holy at what cost? Is it even “holy” then? The play itself covers new ground by digging into the Black cultural issues of our time, but much like O’Neil the characters love one another but can’t stand eachother anymore. Meanwhile, sitting at over four hours with the multiple intermissions it still didn’t provide enough time to wrap up the many storylines introduced. Many plots seem to evaporate rather than have any significant meaning to the storyline. It’s a story of cycles, and breaking generational trauma, and cyclical family issues, but is it? You’re left with more questions than answers at the end. At times it felt like an exceedingly long pitch for a network to pick up a new prestige hour-long drama. The First Deep Breath may have been better served focusing on particular issues versus the onslaught of so many storylines that didn’t even get the chance to wrap up and finish. The casting however, was perfect. The entire cast delivered sublime performances and even among such cream of the crop acting it was Aunt Pearl played by Deanna Reed-Foster who stole the show for us. We were riveted by her, she was able to switch from drama to comedy while still maintaining the tone of the show and stealing attention in group scenes. Even in silence her reactions were what we found ourselves looking for, she drew our eyes like a magnet. Alas, this was another storyline we wanted to know more of that instead evaporates, leaving us to wonder what did happen to this woman who sacrified so much for her family, while simultaneously also being an orchestrator of pain. The show gives a bit on how pain is a drug, a poison you can’t help but hold onto once you’ve had it. It unfolds with each of the characters casting pain onto one another, while simultanously casting it onto themselves for the choices they make. It was a shame we were fed so much within the storyline that even over four hours later the rouge beginnings gave us no closure.
Overall The First Deep Breath has impeccable acting, and great direction. The story themes are strong, but with so many loose endings and unresolved storylines we felt it could use an edit. Let us know what you think and if you’re hading to catch it before it’s gone.
You can catch The First Deep Breath, now – March 5 at the Gil Cates Theater.
