Dr. Jon Lien is a risk-taker and respected researcher, working for over twenty years in the dangerous waters off Newfoundland to rescue massive humpback whales and save the fishing gear in which they’re trapped. With his head down in freezing waters and armed only with a snorkel and knife, Lien saves the lives of over five hundred animals and earns the hard-won respect of Newfoundland’s fishermen. But his toughest battle comes at the end, as his body is slowly conquered by a relentlessly progressing paralysis and dementia.

Between Breaths moves backward in time, from Lien’s final moments to his very first whale intervention. As his life becomes further and further confined, his mind stretches back in memories of release and salvation. Based on a true story, Robert Chafe crafts a raw portrayal Newfoundland’s “Whale Man” in this beautiful and poignant play about the parts of ourselves we hold on to after everything else has gone.

Robert Chafe has worked in theatre, dance, opera, radio, fiction, and film. His stage plays have been seen in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and in the United States, and include Oil and Water, Tempting Providence, Afterimage, Under Wraps, Between Breaths, and The Colony of Unrequited Dreams (adapted from the novel by Wayne Johnston). He has been shortlisted twice for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama and he won the award for Afterimage in 2010. He has been guest instructor at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, and the National Theatre School of Canada. He is the playwright and Artistic Director of Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland.

Robert Chafe's profile page

• Nominated, The BMO Winterset Award