Cigarettes And Chocolate

The cold winter that has gripped Washington is not more biting than the voice of the Potomac Theater Project, back with works designed to illuminate "the nightmares and hoaxes by which we live." These never-say-die radicals have earned a loyal audience, who for nearly a decade followed the peripatetic troupe from space to space. As of 1995, when Co-Producer Jim Petosa was named Artistic Director of the Olney Theater, PTP had a home. The three producers, each of whom directs one play per season, have opted to stage their shows in unconventional locations on Olney's grounds. In 1995, Marisol and Scenes from an Execution were performed in the Scene Shop. This year, the audience is invited to join the company on the main stage.

Patrons are seated on three sides of a small, created stage, facing out into the house. A scrim serves as protection against the distraction of the house seats and occasional flash of light from the box office.

The winter repertory brings co-producers and professors Cheryl Faraone and Richard Romagnoli from Middlebury College. In return for professional experience for students, who participate in all aspects of production, the college partially subsidizes the season. Because students are cast along side professionals, the quality of the acting can be uneven. However, this was not the case with the scintillating Cigarettes and Chocolate.

Potomac Theater Project is not much for fancy sets. The characters await their turn to speak, seated on occasional chairs on an otherwise bare stage. The scriptwriter is Anthony Minghella, screenwriter and director for "Truly, Madly, Deeply," who adapted and directed "The English Patient." This brilliant study in the power of silence, which was first produced in 1988 as a BBC radio play, was well cast by Faraone. As Gemma, whose decision to stop talking triggers an avalanche of guilty confession from her friends, Sarah Ripard is stunning. An English-bred actress born in Malta, her exotic face and dark, luminous eyes speak for her in reaction to the sometimes bizarre ramblings of her circle.

Gemma's lover Rob (James Matthew Ryan) fears his adultery with Lorna (Lee Mikeska Gardner) caused her radical decision. Ryan, a founding member of  New York's Blue Light Theater Company, is a standout among a handsome, talented cast. Frantic, he recalls an incident where Gemma's do-gooder efforts for the homeless did more harm than good. Brash Lorna feels guilt-bred violence toward Gemma's silence, expressed in the desire to slap her face. "Suicide is the art of homicide on the living," she says, equating the crime with Gemma's muteness. Pregnant Gail (Carrie Baker) thinks childless Gemma might envy her unborn baby. Soft-hearted Irishman Alastair (Blake Montgomery) is horrified that his unrequited love could have precipitated this state of affairs. Gemma withstands their siege of phone messages and visits, and when she finally breaks her silence, her explanation to the audience is as eloquent as Portia's.

Strange how a play touting the virtues of silence can be such a verbal feast. Considering that the Potomac Theatre Project presents all its shows for free, Cigarettes and Chocolate is the best bargain in town.