Theater Review: THE FIRST DEEP BREATH (Geffen)

WAITING TO EXHALE

Getting its West Coast Premiere at the Geffen Playhouse’s mainstage Gil Cates Theater, The First Deep Breath, a 2019 play by Lee Edward Colston II, is an overstuffed family drama that left me wanting ’¦ less. Directed by Steve H. Broadnax III, this double-intermissioned, 3 hour and 45 minute play takes place inside the two-story Philadelphia home of the Joneses, a seemingly well-to-do family for whom appearances are everything. The family patriarch, you see, is the God-fearing Albert Melvin Jones III (a fiery Herb Newsome), pastor of a prominent Baptist church. But appearances aren’t easy when tribulations abound. In a flashback scene that opens the show, Albert decries the death of his daughter Diane; the deteriorating health of his wife, Ruth (a mood-swinging Ella Joyce); and the arrest of his eldest son, Albert Melvin Jones IV, played with an exterior roughness by a former corrections officer, the playwright himself.

Keith A Wallace, Candace Thomas, Opa Adeyemo

Fast forward to the present, Albert Jr. has just returned home after serving six years behind bars for a rape conviction. In defiance of his rigid, disciplinarian father, he’s changed his name to Abdul-Malik. At home we meet his corrections officer sister, Dee-Dee (Candace Thomas), and his college-bound brother AJ (Opa Adeyemo). We’re also introduced to Dee-Dee’s boyfriend Leslie (Brandon Mendez Homer) and a family friend, Tyree (Keith A. Wallace). Last, and certainly not least, is Mrs. Jones’s sister, Pearl (Deanna Reed-Foster), who moved in years ago to care for the Mrs. amid her progressive, and increasingly debilitating, Alzheimer’s.

Lee Edward Colston II, Candace Thomas, Ella Joyce, and Opa Adeyemo

Prior to Breath, the last Geffen play I saw was Matthew Lopez’s sprawling, six-and-a-half-hour epic, The Inheritance, which premiered in London the year before Breath’s 2019 debut at Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago. Over two, three-plus-hour nights, it engaged, satisfied, and left me wanting more. Upon hearing Breath was yet another theatrical epic being served up at the Playhouse, I was hoping lightning could strike twice. If only. On its surface, Breath is easily comparable to Tracy Letts’s 2007 Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, August: Osage County. Both are brimming with deep-seated family secrets that eventually, like proverbial shit, hit the fan. On its own, Breath is relatively low-stakes, dated even. It’s mildly entertaining, but in August’s shadow, it feels reductive. When in a pivotal dinner scene the mind-riddled matriarch stands up and — in a moment of lucidity — unfurls upon everyone at the table, I couldn’t help but think I’ve seen this done better.

Candace Thomas and Opa Adeyemo

That said, Breath, of which the playwright requires an all-black cast and director, brings something new to the table via its language and cultural center. The work features a prominent black family who speak in a decidedly black vernacular, punctuated by an authentic Philly dialect. (Colston is a Philadelphia native.) Its dialogue is rhythmic and, well, colorful — the use of “nigga” is as prevalent as Mamet’s f-bombs. Yet much of what is said or happens in the Jones household, even by the pastor himself, is likely to be censored at the pulpit. But can the pain of generational hardening ever fully stay repressed?

Deanna Reed-Foster

Breath’s socio-political attributes aside, its story — in terms of dramatic construction, tension, and execution — is overwrought and unwieldy. It strings together mostly middling situations that neither up the ante of the “family drama” genre nor warrant a nearly four-hour running time. And yet, specific storylines shine: Aunt Pearl is a perfect example. Played with exquisite depth by Deanna Reed-Foster, Pearl is a relative many would love to have. When she’s not fantasizing about Idris Elba, she’ll fill your belly with her prized cooking. Her selflessness, however, doesn’t come without a cost — to herself, or anyone. Comedic and heartbreaking, Pearl is arguably the best role in the play; it’s a shame her storyline gets drowned out by less satisfying melodrama.

Opa Adeyemo

On the technical side, Michael Carnahan has created a detailed, two-story set that keeps the action visible and moving throughout. Meanwhile, Tré Cotten ensures a uniform Philly dialect for the cast. In a strangely satisfying ballet sequence, choreographer DJ Smart brings catharsis to a family in pain before the fight director, Steve Rankin, amps their hurt, yet again. Profound one-liners earn knowing moans and snaps, whereas an overly earnest “spoken word” poetry sequence comes across as trying too hard.

Ella Joyce, Keith A. Wallace, Lee Edward Colston II, Opa Adeyemo,
Candace Thomas, Brandon Mendez Homer, and Herb Newsome

Even with a fine cast doing solid work across the board, there seems to be no clear protagonist or through line in Breath. Tackling far too much, the play loses itself in itself. Even with its lengthy running time (a big ask for any audience, especially if one can’t deliver the goods), it still manages to leave us with loose ends long after it — and we — have run out of steam. Amid all its fat, there’s a leaner play in Breath, and likely a good one. It just needs reconfiguring, and mostly, room to breathe.

Brandon Mendez Homer, Lee Edward Colston II, Candace Thomas, Keith A. Wallace

photos by Jeff Lorch

Opa Adeyemo, Candace Thomas, Keith A. Wallace, and Herb Newsome

The First Deep Breath
Geffen Playhouse, 10866 Le Conte Avenue in Westwood
Tues-Fri at 7:30; Sat and Sun at 1 & 7
ends on March 5, 2023
for tickets, call 310.208.5454 or visit  Geffen Playhouse