Anne Pasquale and Keith Herron star in this unusual yet meaningful production, “Across a Crowded Room.” The entire set is made up of two chairs and the two characters are not given names. Initially the characters break the fourth wall, talking directly to the audience, instead of each other.

The opening “scene” is how they met: at a birthday party neither wanted to attend and at which they were each having a miserable time. He sees her “across a crowded room” and is immediately struck by her. He approaches her; she is reluctant at first but agrees to leave the party with him to get coffee. They are not kids, they have each been married before: she is a widow, he is divorced. They talk through a whirlwind courtship; he quotes Shakespeare and she sings Gershwin. They marry and have struggles and heartaches.

This production is very engaging despite being so unconventional. The characters rarely speak to each other directly, but rather either to the audience directly or in “interior monologues” spoken aloud. Yet, their thoughts follow each other logistically and sequentially, creating a sort of “dialogue of the minds.” The characters verbally walking through their entire relationship in one sitting is reminiscent of how Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway is the story of a woman’s whole life in one day. There is emotional depth to the writing, depth which the actors do not fail to convey.

The show disappoints in its brevity. The announced start time is 6:00 and the final bow is at 6:30. Patrons who pay for tickets might expect a bit more time in the seats, which are their own unique experience. Additionally, the show deals with strongly adult themes that were entirely inappropriate for children, yet at this performance there was a child sitting in the audience (very noticeable since the entire audience totaled less than twenty-five people). There should be a disclaimer “may be inappropriate for children.”

The show is very intense and interesting to watch. The actors do a great job at creating mental images, necessary since there are no props and no costume changes. It could have been longer and it would have been nice for the characters to have names, but a job well done, nonetheless.