This Space Between Us-Breachable?

A salad of what separates us from friends, family, and society, This Space Between Us includes gay issues, ethnic divisions, differences in social awareness and commitment, tradition, and religion. Tossing liberally brings some seasonings to the fore – a frustrated attempt to be of service in a world hostile to outsiders, corruption, and bureaucracy; leaving others with just a mention – mixed race having nothing to do with plot and a gay relationship with a single pregnant line. Editing is in order.

We meet everyone at once. Long and happily married, Debbie (Joyce Cohen) and Frank (Anthony Ruiz) have gathered family and intimates for a racetrack outing. Their gay son Jamie (Ryan Garbayo), a high earning lawyer and proverbial “good boy,” brings Ted, (Tommy Heleringer) his adoring partner of five years. (They’re comfortably affectionate.) Debbie’s Sister Pat (Glynis Bell), a grounded, smart, veil-wearing nun in street clothes, and Jamie’s best friend Gillian (Alex Chester) round out the group.

Sister Pat (Glynis Bell) and Jamie (Ryan Garbayo)

Debbie and Frank’s business is going bankrupt, which makes them more than usually aware of finances. (Frank’s immigrant background compounds this.) When a racehorse crashes over the barrier and has to be shot, Gillian is fascinated, Sister Pat and Ted horrified. Debbie and Frank ignore the incident, gleeful at having won.

Jamie declares he’s quitting his lucrative, secure job for an aid organization in Africa. There’s no exposition on how he came to the decision. His parents are extremely alarmed. Sister Pat, on the other hand, is all for her nephew’s incipient conscience. She and Debbie are competitively at one another before the revelation and throughout the play. We never discover why.

Ted, on the verge of asking Jamie to marry him, is undone by his love’s resolution. Why wasn’t he consulted? Why wasn’t he asked to accompany? Jealous of Ted and possessive of Jamie, Gillian also feels abandoned. Not only is her companion-in-materialistic fun leaving, but his burgeoning principles seem to disparage everything she holds dear.

Ted (Tommy Heleringer) and Jamie (Ryan Garbayo)

Relationships change. Jamie sets up in Nairobi. Some characters adjust, others ostensibly go one as they were. Things don’t evolve as planned. Author Peter Gil-Sheridan tries to fit too much into the piece while intimations are unexplored. This leaves us without a distinctive taste.

Except for Alex Chester’s Gillian, who is all surface, and Tommy Heleringer’s Ted – he carries wispy a bit too far – acting is solid. Ryan Garbayo’s Jamie and Glynis Bell’s Sister Pat contribute realistic ballast; Joyce Cohen’s Debbie adds plucky fireworks.

Direction by Keen’s artistic director Jonathan Silverstein shows a sharp eye for composition and individualized stage business. Pacing is good. Characters are solid but for the exception of Gillian already suffering from cliché writing made even less viable by screechy presence.

Debbie (Joyce Cohen) and Jamie (Ryan Garbayo)

Michael Rossmy, fighting and intimacy director, falls short with an unbelievable tussle between Debbie and Sister Pat that might’ve been a particularly effective moment.

Steven Kemp’s set design suffers from the omnipresence of a racing scoreboard relevant only to the first scene. Though bad news electronically scrolls across it as the protagonist seeks political conscience, its inappropriateness never fades.

Intermittently and frankly inexplicably action freezes for a darkened moment accompanied by what I’m told is the sound of a heartbeat. Makes no sense at the time.

Photos by Carol Rosegg

Opening Photo: Tommy Heleringer, Ryan Garbayo, Glynis Bell, Alex Chester, Joyce Cohen, Anthony Ruiz

Keen Company presents
This Space Between Us by Peter Gil-Sheridan
Directed by Jonathan Silverstein

Theatre Row 
410 West 42nd Street
Through April 2, 2022

About Alix Cohen (1868 Articles)
Alix Cohen is the recipient of ten New York Press Club Awards for work published on this venue. Her writing history began with poetry, segued into lyrics and took a commercial detour while holding executive positions in product development, merchandising, and design. A cultural sponge, she now turns her diverse personal and professional background to authoring pieces about culture/the arts with particular interest in artists/performers and entrepreneurs. Theater, music, art/design are lifelong areas of study and passion. She is a voting member of Drama Desk and Drama League. Alix’s professional experience in women’s fashion fuels writing in that area. Besides Woman Around Town, the journalist writes for Cabaret Scenes, Broadway World, TheaterLife, and Theater Pizzazz. Additional pieces have been published by The New York Post, The National Observer’s Playground Magazine, Pasadena Magazine, Times Square Chronicles, and ifashionnetwork. She lives in Manhattan. Of course.