Art Imitating Bar Life

Squeeze into a crowded bar often enough, and sooner or later you will become an inadvertent eavesdropper. Such an experience lies at the heart of a Westside staging of John Patrick Shanley’s play, “Danny and The Deep Blue Sea.” The gritty drama opened this month at The Pink in Santa Monica.

What distinguishes The Pink’s staging is the use of the bar and audience during the drama’s first half. When Dan Hildebrand, above, who plays Danny, walks in off Main Street, the audience initially takes him for a neighborhood ruffian stepping in for a beer.

Alexander Cassini, a Santa Monica film director and producer, is making his theatrical directorial debut with the drama. His wife, Maureen Teefy, right, plays Roberta, the female lead.

The play runs Thursdays through Sundays at 8 p.m. at The Pink, 2810 Main St., Santa Monica. Tickets are $10. Information and tickets: (213) 660-TKTS.