Burien Actors Theatre (BAT) brings the U.S. premiere of “Beginning” by David Eldridge to the stage in Burien, continuing through Sunday, Mar. 9, 2025 at Kennedy Catholic High’s Little Theatre.

“Beginning,” set in the late autumn of 2015 in London, opens on a warmly lit flat in the wee hours of the morning. A housewarming party for Laura (Lucy Pearce) has just ended and one guest, Danny (Gerald Germajesty Price) still lingers. The air is abuzz with two people giving the pretense of saying goodbye when the desire to spend the night together pulses as an undercurrent to every word said.

As the play progresses, the flirty fun dissolves to reveal the reality of two lonely people in their early 40s grappling with the ways life has disappointed and diverted them away from what they most desire. Will they lean into vulnerability and take a risk or bid one another goodnight and each continue their lonely way?

A play that runs 100 minutes and consists only of a conversation between two people necessarily relies on the chemistry between the two players to carry the show. Happily, Pearce and Price’s dynamic was natural, joyful, and completely believable, carrying the audience from magnetic flirtation to the taunt expectation of sexual tension, to the depths of insecurities and traumas and back again to peals of laughter and the joy of pure, human connection.

Each actor lived in the moment, molding the mood into something spontaneous and delightful, the picture of two strangers trying to hook up but being unsure.

Pearce’s Laura embodied a successful 40-something woman effortlessly, lounging casually on her couch in her nylons with a glass of wine, pulling out her best flirtations in hopes of catching Danny, but nevertheless respectful of his skittishness and uncertainty. Pearce’s portrayal is full of humor and heart, delivered in a strong accent that never wavered throughout her performance.

Price’s Danny exuded charisma, and it was easy to see why he was the object of attraction for Laura. Price’s performance was full of genuine emotion and spontaneity, encapsulating the fun of the interplay between two uncertain people with one goal in mind. Though he struggled with the accent at times, Price successfully brought Danny to life as a whole human, warts and all.

There’s a maturity to “Beginning.” It’s not an impulsive one-night stand engaged in without thought or care about consequences as one might have in their 20s. It’s a sober look at the loneliness of middle age and the realization that, sometimes, our happy ever after isn’t a mystical gift bestowed on us by a fairy godmother. Sometimes it’s intentionally forged through the first courageous step onto a road we never thought we’d walk down but nevertheless leads home.

Beginning runs Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m., Feb. 14 through Mar. 9, 2025. (No performance on February 28, 2025.)

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