My overall impression
‘Gentle Passage’ is a one act, two-hander about an alzheimer’s clinician, Anna, and her patient, Joseph.
Starting on opposite sides of the stage and perspective the two start an unlikely relationship over a series of tests and Q&As.
Joseph, an older gay man (Gary Rubenstein)is there for the money. Anna (Rachel Boller), a demoted PhD, is there to simply get through it and on the way to tenure.
Through-out this one-act of fade-ins and outs (like memory itself) Joseph recounts a storied childhood of abuse and incest with a verve and affection that belies the very nature of it’s content. While this wretched disease robs Joseph of his memory it takes nothing from his spirit.
A piece that begs to be played maudlin, Rubenstein and Boller manage to side-step that urge and keep the tempo and tone forward and humorous.
A play about finding yourself through another person. It is never too late.
