‘Breadcrumbs’ at Urbanite in Sarasota is powerful, poignant

The story’s tragedy reveals itself in the first few seconds: A woman, aging but not old, is answering some test questions asked by a young medical professional. The audience knows the diagnosis before it is spoken — it is, in fact, never spoken — and knows that there will be no escape for the woman, who will be sucked into the inexorable whirlpool of Alzheimer’s disease as we watch.

The play is “Breadcrumbs,” a smart, beautiful and emotionally devastating drama by a young playwright named Jennifer Haley. It’s on the stage at Urbanite Theatre in Sarasota through mid-September, in a chilling production directed by Brendan Ragan.

The play is compact, only about 80 minutes with no intermission, and includes just two actors. They play three or four characters, depending on how you count them.

Barbara Redmond is Alida, a well-known literary novelist who is aware that her brain is deteriorating. Brittany Proia is Beth, the nurse’s aide whom she meets in the play’s first moments. She’d like to be smarter than she is, and she’s in awe of the the great novelist, whose works she has seen on bookstore shelves. She insinuates her way into Alida’s life, who allows her in with a reluctance than seems to mask relief that she’ll have some company during her descent.

Beth agrees to help Alida compose her memoirs. The task becomes all-consuming, and soon Beth, who has problems of her own that could themselves make the focus of a compelling play, ends up working full-time for Alida and even staying in her apartment,

The additional characters appear when Alida lapses into memories of her childhood. Redmond plays the little-girl Alida and Proia plays her mother. Little Alida is precocious and oddly obsessed with reciting her own deconstruction of the Hansel and Gretel tale, in which there is no Hansel. Her mother’s life parallels Beth’s: Both women seek to define themselves by the men they become involved with, and lose a sense of themselves in the process. Alida is the only constant in either woman’s life, and gives them both at least a chance at redemption.

Redmond, a local stage stalwart who’s best known for her work with Asolo Repertory Theatre, gives a rich performance that keeps the audience’s sympathy even though Alida is fairly unpleasant and her disease makes her down-right nasty. Beth, Proia’s character, isn’t as compelling, but Proia makes her three-dimensional, and helps make the connections between Beth and Alida’s mother palpable.

The design work (the set by John C. Reynolds, costumes by Becki Leigh, lights by Ryan Finzelber) is understated and unobtrusive, but complements the stark script beautifully.

Even though you know where the story is headed from the beginning, playwright Haley still delivers some punches that catch you off guard. “Breadcrumbs” isn’t a play for people looking for diversion. It leaves you shaken and sad, but undeniably elevated.

Details: Aug. 12-Sept. 17, Urbanite Theatre, 1487 Second St., Sarasota. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday (plus 2 p.m. Aug. 13), 2 p.m. Sunday. $28; under 40 with ID $20; students with ID $5. 941-321-1397, urbanitetheatre.com.

This story was originally published August 24, 2016 at 5:01 PM with the headline "‘Breadcrumbs’ at Urbanite in Sarasota is powerful, poignant."