REVIEW of The Hallway by Bill Keenan, directed by Jesse William Green at The Midtown International Festival:
There are few plays as well-written, well-acted and well-directed as The Hallway. Although the premise is unlikely and a bit absurd, Bill Keenen’s understanding of human foibles erases whatever increduality the plot invokes.

The play begins with Nora (Zoe Zien) in her bathrobe using the ice machine in the Marriot. Having gotten her ice, she realizes that she locked her key card in her room (not all together unlikely especially at 3 am). She then finds that the floor phone is out of order, a key card is necessary to run the elevator, and the fire door is locked (all fairly implausible). She is soon joined in her plight by Dean (Eric Berger) who has been chased out of his room by his wife wearing his robe, his slippers and carrying the shoe his wife launched at him as he retreated to the hall. Dean then mansplains to Nora that the ice machine cannot run on a 7-minute cycle, the hall phone cannot be broken, the elevator must work, and the staircase door must be unlocked. Their relationship does get off to a rocky start.

Eventually, they verbally poke and prod each other until they discover what has led each of them to a hall in a Marriot. Dean laughed at his wife as she presented her research and analytics trying to explain why it was time for them to have a baby. Ironically, she had actually won the battle before it started, since Dean had already reached the same conclusion and his laughter was aimed, not at question, but his and his wife’s failure to openly communicate. Nora’s problem was a little bit more long term. She was at the Marriott stalking her sister who she cutoff 10 years ago. She had become incensed that her sister had forgiven her mother (a story we never hear) for what Nora thought was unforgivable.

Keenan has his protagonists help each other to cure their dilemmas in a very human and humane way. His lesson is that the only way to deal with fears is to face them.

The Hallway is the second of three short plays Keenan has written. Last year his well-received Spin Cycle debuted at Hudson Guild and his Fully Furnished debuts at the Flea on Sunday, July 12. This foray into theater follows a fairly successful, albeit short, film career. The problem with his three shows is that each of them are too short to stand on their own in an extended off-Broadway run. But the quality of the writing and the gentle intimacy that Keenan embraces should make Producer/Director Jesse William Green consider combining two of them on a 150-250 seat Broadway stage (they would perfect for Audible).

What was surprising about the production is how little experience all of the creatives have. As stated above The Hallway is only Keenan’s second play. Jesse William Green has extensive experience as a Producer and a director in TV and film projects, but little stage experience. Yet, his movement of the actors on stage, keeping the stage off balance, letting Keenan’s words do their work and getting exceptional performances from his actors was tremendously good work. Zoe Zien has a SAG-AFTRA Card but her resume, surprisingly given how good her performance as Nora is, shows no stage experience. Eric Berger has the most stage experience on his resume but almost all of it is in college, community, or regional theater productions, yet he as good as any Broadway veteran as Dean. The entire team deserves tremendous applause.