I’m grateful for both the intellectual stimulation and the sensual pleasure.

In Sea Wall, which is a monologue, Alex tells us about his relationships with his wife, their daughter, and his father-in-law—“Is it an awful thing to say that the company of men can sometimes be comforting?” Alex is happy, but—too clearly—tragedy looms: I figured out the twist then waited impatiently for it to arrive. But Simon Stephens’s script is a sometimes-poetic existential meditation.

Alex’s father-in-law, who believes in God and who loves the ocean, talks about experiencing the feeling of water, which may be an expression of spiritual union, in unexpected places, including the space between two numbers. And one of the pleasures of Brent Hirose’s subtle performance is the warm beauty of his voice.