About the Play:

On The Exhale is a full-length drama by Martin Zimmerman. A woman, a single mother by choice, and her son live peacefully under an unspoken, benevolent scrutiny in the small college town where they make their home. But when their lives are forever changed by a terrible act of gun violence, the woman seeks solace in the most unlikely place: a shooting range.

On The Exhale offers a complex examination of America's gun violence crisis as we follow one woman down a rabbit hole of grief. For years, a liberal college professor has feared being shot by a disgruntled student. When a senseless act of violence changes her life forever, as she campaigns for stronger regulations governing assault weapons, she finds peace and consolation just where she least expects it – the very weapon used to perpetrate the crime and to the irresistible feeling of power that comes from holding life and death in her hands. Peering down the barrel of a uniquely American crisis, she begins to suspect that when it comes to gun violence, we’re all part of the problem. Should guns – or certain types of guns – be more strictly regulated in the U.S.? Do citizens have the right to purchase any weapon that helps them feel safe?

On the Exhale premiered in 2017 at the Roundabout Underground Theatre off Broadway in New York City. Its UK premiere was in 2018 at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh and then at Oxford Playhouse.

Cast: 1 woman

What people say:

"A carefully wrought study of a mother undone by loss [...] On The Exhale approaches the subject of American gun violence from a startlingly original perspective." — The New York Times

"On The Exhale makes its points succinctly and intelligently [...] it never feels like it's preaching to the choir." — The Hollywood Reporter

"Remarkable ... The subject has been explored before, but never with this much emotional power." — The Observer

About the Playwright:

Martin Zimmerman is a multi-ethnic, bilingual (English and Spanish) American playwright and screenwriter. His works have been produced or developed at regional and off-Broadway theatres. He was a staff writer on Netflix's Narcos and is a story editor on the Netflix series Ozark. He received his MFA in playwriting from The University of Texas at Austin and BAs in theater studies and economics from Duke University.