Cigarettes and Chocolate March 1, 2007

Anthony Minghella's wonderfully naturalistic and humorous dialogue in 'Cigarettes and Chocolate' takes a poetic look at the fragmented and cluttered lives of a group of close friends in their late 20s/early 30s. Following along the lines of Plato's rule; the one who feels does not speak and the one who speaks does not feel -- the play centers on Gemma who, suddenly, gives up speaking. One by one her stunned and baffled friends -- boyfriend Rob, best friend Lorna, her not terribly secret admirer Alistair and the eighteen week pregnant Gail -- find themselves ripped from their everyday routine of espresso-drinking and self- involvement to confront their own culpability (real or imagined), and in doing so, truly seeing each other... and themselves, for the first time.