By Dianne Zuckerman, for the Denver Post
(Verbatim transcript of text)

"Permanently Missing," Jennifer Berry's absorbing new drama about a wife's search for her vanished spouse, comes at a time when the news is following the disappearance of Chandra Levy, the young Washington, D.C., intern who has attracted national attention in large part because of her romantic link to U.S. Rep. Gary Condit.

It's only happenstance that Berry's work, being given its premiere at the Acoma Center, coincides with the Levy case. But "Permanently Missing," which was inspired by another true story told to Berry, reinforces how a sudden disappearance can trigger endless speculation about people's lives and relationships, what we really know about someone and only think we know.

The story also probes the different meanings of missing, which alternately can mean lost, absent or lacking. Each definition applies, as events shift between past and present, told from the viewpoints of the agonized wife, her troubled husband and an antagonistic police investigator.

Without divulging plot surprises, parts of "Permanently Missing" stretch credibility, particularly some of the developments involving the investigator. Additionally, the constant references to Raina's singing, without including it in any way, leaves us wanting something more in this area.

But while the material has some faults, Berry has staged a strong production led by C. Kelly Leo's powerful portrayal of Raina LePage, a singer whose marriage gets rocky after she reveals her pregnancy to husband Peter, a struggling writer.

Leo's Raina grabs our attention and empathy from the moment she comes on stage, a slim, tense figure steeling herself for yet another police interview about Peter, who left the house three months ago and never returned. Caught between pain and anger from the assault on her personal life, Raina recalls their life together as scenes segue smoothly between her memories and actual events.

From their initial encounter, there's convincing chemistry between Leo's Raina and David Harms' ruggedly attractive Peter, a wannabe novelist who fishes off the Oregon coast to pay the bills. Harms does a good job of making us understand Peter's needs even as events reveal his self-centered irresponsibility.

As Inspector Ramsey, a cold-eyed cop with a shock of white hair and his own agenda, Will Brown initially seems to be playing the character on one level, but builds to a gripping confrontation in Act 2.

The script includes a number of lighter moments. Some only sidetrack the plot, others add welcome humor. All are performed by a good supporting ensemble led by Patty Mintz Figel as Raina's amusingly carping mother and Tracy Scornavacco-Ayres as a pushy psychic trying to horn in on the case.