Danny and the Deep Blue Sea – Where Two Unfathomably Broken People Cross Paths

 

Michael Patrick Trimm and Shannon Donovan in Danny and the Deep Blue Sea

Don’t be fooled by the placid opening moment of Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, a tumultuous look into the mental makeup of two tortured souls.

Playwright John Patrick Shanley wastes no time launching the two characters who sit alone and apart at opposite ends of a grungy Bronx bar into verbal fisticuffs that sometimes gets perilously close to physical assault.

Roberta (Shannon Donovan) sits quietly munching on a bowl of pretzels while Danny (Michael Patrick Trimm) lounges agitatedly at another table mulling over a pitcher of beer with a foamy head that nearly fills half the pitcher.

The two are the bar’s sole occupants, their isolation accented by lighting designer, Annmarie Duggan’s shadowy, low-level illumination.

The conversational ice is broken when Danny asks if she’d like to share her salty snack. Instead of a polite no, he gets a rebuke as sharp as a slap in the face. Roberta, you see, is as far from versed in the art of politesse as a hungry Komodo dragon on the hunt.

As virile and physically intimidating as 29- year-old Danny is, his left eye blackened and fists aching from a recent brawl, Roberta, while smaller of stature but toned and physically robust, is almost as threatening with her seemingly defiant, fear free demeanor. She often seems oblivious to Dany’s quick trigger anger that so frequently leads to so many fisticuffs that his coworkers refer to him as “the Beast.”

Add to this explosive mix that fact that both come with a lot of mental baggage and dark secrets that neither seem capable of handling. While the early dialogue leads to an expectation of the possibility of a bloody and tempestuous episode, the pair seem to understand and see something in one another that suggests a relief from their brooding, bitter angst. and relentless mental demons. The relationship between the two is a high voltage mix of attraction, antagonism, hostility and confrontation, a slam dance version of Romeo and Juliet.

Earlier this year, I got to see Trimm solo in a PICT production of The Smuggler. I was so impressed with his work, I gave him one of my best reviews saying “Years from now, he and the production just might be considered one of the most memorable one-man shows to have ever graced a Pittsburgh stage.”

As Danny, I wondered if he was going to be a one-hit wonder, but fortunately he came away with flying colors – again. His rugged physical volatility is one that exudes virility in such a macho-toxic manner, you never believe he was able to evolve into the more awkwardly sensitive chap he’s portrayed later in the drama.

Happily, he found his Thespian match in Donovan, who is as convincingly masterful as Trimm is palpably fierce and anger-filled. Donovan also acts as the play’s fight choreographer; an assignment she succeeded so well at you can almost feel the pain of the pummels and slaps they inflict on one another. On a lighter side, intimacy coordinator, Ricardo Vila-Roger aptly applies his craft in scenes that require a softer touch,

Director Kelly Trumbull has the play so finely tempo-ed that the lines roll of the actors’ lips with the precision of a Patek Phillippe. This adds even more to the overall excellence of the production.

Michael Patrick Trimm and Shannon Donovan in Danny and the Deep Blue Sea

Despite the verbal fisticuffs and limited physical assaults, the play not-so-unexpectedly ends up in the bedroom, where both characters temporarily find relief from their malaise and even begin envisioning a life together. Early morning, however, brings them back to their quotidian existential condition leaving the possibility of a future together up in the air.

While Danny may not have the assurance of the happily ever after ending audiences have come to value, it does provide an illuminating look at the dynamics of two people challenged by their past mistakes and present fears. Independently-produced, this gripping  drama gets a watch-worthy staging that features two praiseworthy actors up to their knickers in talent.