"K2" by Patrick Meyer opened Feb. 18 at the KNOW Theatre in Binghamton. In addition to being a high-stakes play about climbers stranded on one of the world's most dangerous mountains, K2 is a very intimate, moving story of a longtime friendship between two very different men. Taylor, played by Francisco Paler-Large, is a womanizing district attorney. Harold, played by Know Artistic Director Tim Gleason, is a happily married ex-hippie physics professor. Conflicts between the two range from the practical to the abstract and ideological. What begins as a dispute over who is to blame for their plight evolves into a sociological debate that touches on racism in America, spirituality and religion, materialism and technology, and, of course, physics.
This section of the script contains some expository and philosophical dialogue that could sound forced or pretentious in a play with such immediate mortal consequences, but the incredibly skilled actors manage to make it compelling and realistic. By the time the final conflict reveals itself, the audience is spellbound. And, in its ending moments, as Gleason delivers his final monologue and the audience members try to choke back sobs, "K2" positively soars. read more
