Theater Online - New York Theater Reviews

CIGARETTES AND CHOCOLATE , written by Anthony Minghella and directed by Kate Pines-Schwartz is a small theatrical gem. Originally developed at Williamstown, it is partially recast in a production at the Emergency Theater Project.

Gemma, the focal character, has stopped talking. Her four friends, young successful New Yorkers trying to figure out why, reveal a flippancy about mores usually attributed to the English upper class. But Gemma's silence becomes a blank slate on which her friends enter their insensitivity, indiscretions and trangressions. With successive scenes, the soul searching deepens, exposing our disappointing membership in the human race. There is so much talent in the writing, directing and performing of Cigarettes and Chocolate that it appears effortless. See it if you can! VG