A Pivotal Moment in the Journey of a Young Athlete, and the Story of How She Got There

The tension of a win-or-go-home college championship game is compounded by the drama of the players’ lives off the court in David Zaragoza Gutierrez’s Awake and Breathing, a production of the 2024 CreateTheater New Works Festival. It’s subtitled “Love, Acceptance, Hope”—everything required for a fulfilling life, and yet so devastatingly illusive.

At the forefront is Stephanie Giacomo (Cecili Trippiedi), a senior readying for the NCAA Women’s College Basketball National Championship in Miami. Originally from Texas, Stephanie is a starting player for Tennessee International University against the University of Southern California. Stephanie is very much in her head these days, and the constant rumination involves far more than basketball. She is essentially doing a post-game analysis of her romantic relationship with Michael De La Cruz (J. Antonio Rodriguez), which has recently come to a sad end. But there’s another urgent topic about to arrive at center court—her growing feelings for her teammate and longtime friend and confidant, Tanya (Daria Redus). 

The sequences of the play go back and forth in time. We flashback to see Stephanie arriving as a freshman, and her first encounters with orientation leader Michael and new classmate Tanya. Stephanie and Michael play a flirty game of one-on-one streetball and connect over their love of sandcastles; and she and Tanya bond over the shared stress of schoolwork and the unavoidable angst of their formative years.  She shares with Michael the events of her childhood; some heartwarming, some decidedly harrowing. She admits to Tanya that her heart is forever in flux. 

“Some days I’m crazy about (Michael)”, Stephanie admits to Tanya. “But some days I have other feelings.”

The friends’ backstories fill in and their stories grow richer before our eyes. It’s a smart narrative choice that makes us care deeply for them, and drives home the truth of how much things can change in a handful of heartbeats—we’re different people every single day, and our feelings and relationships are as complicated as that undeniable truth would suggest.  

Trippiedi gives a heartfelt performance; Stephanie feels absolutely real and relatable in every phase of the story, and one is compelled to root for her to win, both in basketball and life. She is complemented beautifully by Rodrigues and Redus, and all three make their relationships feel genuine. They embody their characters with the sense that they’ve all come a long way together to reach this pivotal moment in their intertwined lives. The juxtaposition of the basketball drama with the happiness and heartbreak of real life is masterful. The depictions of the basketball tournament are authentic, complete with play-by-play and cheerleader routines. Dani Kucera, Chloe Simone Crawford and Madeline Hudelson provide dynamic support in the ensemble and as fellow teammates. It all makes for a powerful play that celebrates not only the emergence of women’s basketball, but the true-to-life stories of the players between the hoops. 

Awake and Breathing is directed by NJ Agwuna.