West Coast Premiere

After a simmering, critically acclaimed debut at Chicago's Victory Gardens Theatre in 2018, Lee Edmond Colston II's fierce examination of family and the secrets we would do anything to keep makes its West Coast Premiere at the Geffen Playhouse's Gil Cates Theater this winter. Written by Colston II and directed by Steve H. Broadnax III, The First Deep Breath is a dizzying epic that will leave you on the very edge of your seat.

What is the story?

The very roots of the Jones family - church leaders and respected pillars of their community - are ripped from the earth as they prepare for a service commemorating the death of their daughter Diane six years previously. Not invited is their errant son Abdul-Malik, who arrives after his recent release from prison. The man his father Pastor Albert Jones blames for Diane's death, Abdul's appearance causes finely papered cracks in their history to violently tear themselves open, asking just what price we would pay to keep our darkest secrets from seeing the light.