Smoke effects, Adam Cork's ghostly music, which fills a few long pauses, and the rumblings of the busy street outside give this 'Hughie' a spectral, slightly macabre feel. It has the effect of making these two men more meaningful and of deepening the meaning of the play. Whitaker's confidence grows as his Erie becomes comfortable around the new night clerk. As he gets looser and more animated, the actor also shows the gnawing loneliness of Erie, his disgust and also the respect he shared with Hughie...Whitaker handles the overripe dialogue...without overplaying it, and adds nervous touches...One of the pleasures of reading O'Neill's script is the extended interior thoughts of the night clerk, which somehow Wood must translate onstage beyond a general sullenness...Wood is perfectly clipped and standoffish...Grandage lets it breathe and the actors make it work as a parable about connecting and disconnecting in modern life.