If Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was your introductory course to the confusing, fictional science behind memories—that is, memory making and memory loss—Melissa M. Miller’s Breath quickly (and unforgivingly) bumps you up to graduate school level. I spent the first 20 minutes of the play hating myself for not understanding what was going on; I spent the next 20 attempting to catch up, to match everything I’d missed with what (I thought) I was now beginning to understand. Futile. It wasn’t until intermission, when I finally had a chance to read the playbill, that I realized this had been Miller’s intention all along: I wasn’t supposed to understand Breath.

Theatre of the Absurd—that’s what this is. “Whether or not we can make any sense out of it is not the point,” writes Long Beach Shakespeare Company Artistic Director Helen Borges in her playbill notes. “At least we’re actively involved.” Thankfully, however, Miller acknowledges that most folks crave some kind of story arc, and wraps it all up quite nicely at the end.

There’s a lot going on in Breath—you realize this from the first word, spoken in the dark by Miller (also the lead actress). She’s talking about sadness, her voice nearly over-enunciating every syllable (think Julianne Moore in Big Lebowski) and you’d swear it was recorded if the lights didn’t come on and reveal a bedroom. In it, Miller (as Ruth) is talking to her lover Malcom (an excellent Eric Rummel) about his sadness, only we don’t know if this is a dream or reality. Turns out it’s a bit of both, as Ruth (who is actually Dr. Lina Smith) has hypnotized Malcom (who is actually a man named Samuel, and trying to forget the death of his daughter).

Ok, so there’s more than a lot going on. And it is confusing. But by the end (thanks also in part to tween-aged prodigy Lauren Velasco as Cammy, plus Christian DeSario’s impressive turns as three very different characters) you get it. You may not remember one single line, but the concepts are there. Fortunately, there’s no exam.

BREATH THE RICHARD GOAD THEATRE | 4250 ATLANTIC AVE | LONG BEACH 90807 | 562.997.1494 | LBSHAKESPEARE.ORG. THURS-SAT 8PM; SUN 2PM. $10-15. THRU JULY 28.

Tags: Theater