Danny starts off in a bar, where Danny and Roberta are each, separately, drowning their sorrows.  It doesn’t take long for them to end up next to each other, confessing their darkest secrets.  And here, we’re introduced to their flawed natures and their desperation to escape them, while at the same time holding back the means to their personal salvation.

Danny and the Deep Blue Sea is populated with very personal, offensive material.  But, Curtainbox’s production is actually more sincere than crude, thanks to the performances of Eddie Staver III and Kimberly Furness.  Each of them present their characters with a sincerity that’s more raw than innocent, but sincere just the same.  And that helps make the offensive less offensive, because this isn’t a show about their sins.  It’s a show about their souls, their spirits and their desperation for redemption – a redemption they could find in each other.  And, it’s beautiful in all of it’s raw offensiveness.

It’s actually hard to review this show, as I could gush on and on about the performances of Staver and Furness.  Both are remarkable and worthy of praise.  The problem is, they are so good, as are the lighting, the sound and the staging that I forgot I was supposed to watch with a “critical” eye and lost myself in the show almost completely.  That’s a good thing.  It testifies to the strength of, not only this show, but this production, which I’m convinced heightens the strength of the show itself.

“Danny and the Deep Blue Sea” runs both this weekend and next at The Curtainbox Theatre Company. Performances are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., with a 2:30 matinee on Sundays in “The Village Theatre” in the Village of East Davenport. Tickets can be purchased by calling the theater at (563) 650-8121. More information is available through the theater’s website - The Curtainbox Theatre Co.

And, a note — this show is for a mature audiences only due to adult language and subject matter.