\nRodney Hicks.
\nPhoto courtesy of the artist. <\/p>\n
\t\t
\nRodney Hicks.
\nPhoto courtesy of the artist.
<\/p>\n
For Rodney Hicks, INHALEEXHALE has never been about arriving at a fixed destination. Instead, it has been a years-long act of listening. Listening to actors, audiences, collaborators, and the shifting cultural moment the play exists within. That process continues this winter with the one-night-only public performance at The Laurie Beechman Theatre on February 23, 2026.<\/p>\n
With only one public performance and a limited-capacity venue, INHALEEXHALE isn\u2019t something audiences can simply \u201ccatch later.\u201d It\u2019s a single-night invitation into a piece that has been years in the making.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been fascinating to watch how the piece keeps telling me what it needs,\u201d Hicks says. \u201cEvery version of it has revealed something different.\u201d<\/p>\n
Set within a museum exhibit called the \u201cUnderstanding America Tour,\u201d INHALEEXHALE unfolds as a series of interconnected vignettes in which four actors portray more than twenty characters. The tone is bold, fast, and frequently hilarious, but the ambition underneath is anything but lightweight. Hicks is interested in creating a space where audiences can laugh, recognize themselves, and feel unsettled, sometimes all at once.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to sit through something that\u2019s going to make me feel worse,\u201d he explains. \u201cBut I do want to turn the mirror [to the audience].\u201d<\/p>\n
The upcoming presentation marks the first time INHALEEXHALE will be performed for a paying audience that includes members of the general public alongside friends, colleagues, and industry professionals. That distinction matters deeply to Hicks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will be our first public reading of the play for a paying audience,\u201d he explains. \u201cFor the first time, the audiences will be mixed with the general public, friends, colleagues, and industry. All the other readings were friends, colleagues, and industry. So I\u2019m actually bonkers about that part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Beechman performance, in particular, offers an intimacy that aligns with the piece\u2019s DNA. \u201c[Director] Josh [Rhodes] and I, we knew that this is an intimate piece and we\u2019re seeking an intimate space for it,\u201d Hicks says. \u201cWhere people can really just be immersed in it. The close proximity for the audience and actors is going to be a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s especially intrigued by the social nature of the venue itself. \u201cI really love that people get to eat and drink while they\u2019re watching the show,\u201d he adds. \u201cThere\u2019s something about that, especially with this show. I can\u2019t wait for the moment when people stop eating and they\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, hold on. I gotta watch this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\nKey art for the staged reading at The Laurie Beechman Theatre.
\nImage courtesy of Rodney Hicks.
<\/p>\n
While INHALEEXHALE engages directly with race, culture, queerness, and American identity, Hicks is careful to distinguish intention from instruction. \u201cThis play isn\u2019t coming from Rodney\u2019s lived experiences,\u201d he points out. \u201cI literally made up this whole thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
That distance, paradoxically, allows for greater closeness. Audiences frequently recognize people they know or even parts of themselves within the characters. \u201cPeople have said, \u2018Oh my God, I have an aunt like that,\u2019 or \u2018My family\u2019s like that,\u2019 no matter the color,\u201d Hicks notes.<\/p>\n
At its core, the play asks viewers to practice empathy without rushing to judgment. \u201cLet\u2019s give a little empathy,\u201d he says. \u201cUnless someone\u2019s just blatantly nasty, let\u2019s not assume. Let\u2019s see where it\u2019s coming from. Let\u2019s actually be in a room of all races and watch a play that\u2019s on race and culture without being a play on race and culture.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Hicks, comedy is the Trojan horse. \u201cHow can we actually make it laughable?,\u201d he asked himself as he created it. \u201cAnd not just laughable, but how can we be moved by it? How can we understand ourselves better\u2014our humanity, rather? That\u2019s really what the play is asking.\u201d<\/p>\n
For theatergoers who love work that\u2019s smart, fast, funny, and unafraid to poke at the things we usually avoid talking about in mixed company, INHALEEXHALE offers exactly that kind of charge.<\/p>\n
Much of INHALEEXHALE\u2019s evolution has been shaped by the actors who\u2019ve inhabited it over the years. Several cast members in the upcoming performance, such as Christopher J. Hanke, Crystal Lucas Perry, and Michael James Scott, have been involved with the piece for more than three years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are brilliant, both separately and as an ensemble,\u201d Hicks says of the whole cast, including newcomer Elizabeth Stanley. \u201cThey are at once incredibly funny and deeply human. At the same time, they are powerfully moving in this play.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nChristopher J. Hanke, Crystal Lucas Perry, Michael James Scott,
\nand\u00a0Elizabeth Stanley.
\nImages courtesy of Rodney Hicks.
\n\u200b\u200bCombined image edited by David Clarke.
<\/p>\n
Because the structure requires four performers to embody more than twenty characters, casting is not merely about talent but also transformation. \u201cIt takes a very specific, highly skilled actor who can pull that off,\u201d Hicks admits. \u201cIt\u2019s exciting to watch them do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each reading has unlocked new dimensions. \u201cJessica [Vosk] came in [for the January 31, 2024 industry reading], and I\u2019d not seen the character in that way before,\u201d Hicks recalls. \u201cI was like, \u2018Oh, this is fun.\u2019 Every person who has said yes to being a part of the world of this piece has helped deepen and challenge my understanding of the play.\u201d<\/p>\n
Known to Broadway audiences for originating the role of Bob in COME FROM AWAY and also appearing in the original casts of shows like THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS and RENT, Hicks says writing has fundamentally changed how he approaches the rehearsal room.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has helped me in so many ways,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt helps me with patience and realizing the work that\u2019s being put in. It takes years to make it seem like you just made it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
That shift has also reframed his sense of gratitude. \u201cIt really shifts from, \u2018Oh, I have to do this show,\u2019 to \u2018I get to do this show. I get to work on this piece,\u2019\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, Hicks is clear-eyed and hopeful. \u201cI see an Off-Broadway production,\u201d he says. \u201cWhether it\u2019s limited or open-ended.\u201d And he envisions it with a rotating cast, allowing people to revisit the work to see their favorites step into these characters a la OH, MARY\u2019s Broadway run.<\/p>\n
Success for INHALEEXHALE isn\u2019t defined by personal gain for Hicks. \u201cI don\u2019t want this play to be successful because of what it\u2019ll do for me,\u201d he points out. \u201cIt\u2019s what it will do for others.\u201d<\/p>\n
What he ultimately wants is simple, and radical. \u201cJosh and I say it all the time. We want everyone to feel uncomfortable,\u201d Hicks says with a smile and a laugh. \u201cEqual opportunity discomfort. Equal opportunity laughter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nJosh Rhodes.
\nImage courtesy of Rodney Hicks.
<\/p>\n
Early audiences didn\u2019t just watch INHALEEXHALE, they responded to it. They laughed out loud, talked back to the characters, and found themselves unexpectedly implicated in what was unfolding onstage. It\u2019s the kind of theatrical experience that reminds you you\u2019re in a room full of other people, reacting in real time, and one that\u2019s best experienced live, together.<\/p>\n
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