Guy YedwabDan Bacalzo2/18/08SimpleThings do not happen quickly in the play

Imminence

; tensions build slowly and passively until the moment where pressures are let loose in a shuddering quake. As the play progresses, it charts three generations of a family, through memories and simplemoments, slowly illuminating their lives and how they cope with the loss of one of their own. Realizations and understandings steal slowly over the audience as the storytellingmoves quietly forward.The opening moments of the show are crucial for setting the stage. A simpledomestic scene is set, with pedantic, everyday talk. But other actors stand at one side of the stage, humming and singing a tender acoustic song composed by Ellen Maddow. Thetalk at the table and the movements of the actors become part of the music, providingtheir own unique rhythms and melodies to the music. The care with which each actor performs their role, and the quiet, unassuming emotions with which the music is embued,allowed me to tune my ears to hear much subtler and more potent strains of conversation.From that moment forward, the dialogue and the actions onstage became surreal,even though they were simple actions in life. Writer-Director Paul Zimet provides ahighly minimalist script, understanding that if each moment is simple and highly specific,it can have the power of an entire television epic. The actors perform in such roles withan openness and simplicity that drives such moments home: Will Badgett, as Victor, canturns a scene where he does nothing more than shuffle to the bathroom and back in the