THE FREE READERS ENSEMBLE Presents: Cigarettes and Chocolates, by Anthony Minghella

The play is about the wounded, self-imposed silence of suburbanite Gemma, who gives up speaking for Lent. The drama then evolves from the ways in which the people in her life react to her sudden silence. Of course, the longer her silence endures, the more the others run on and on, sometimes about utter trivialities, and sometimes about matters of profound importance. Frequently, indeed, triviality and profundity will be mixed in one breath.