Third Rail Repertory kicks off its 2024-25 season with a work by contemporary theater star Annie Baker. by John Rudoff Infinite Life opens with six, indistinct chaise lounge chairs set in stark California sun. Sofi (Maureen Porter) is reading there. Eileen—played by famous Portland blues artist LaRhonda Steele—joins her. They have a brief conversation about Sofi's name. Then they talk about where they are: a low-end fasting clinic, which we later learn faces a bakery. This static tableau is nearly devoid of action, and seems difficult to make interesting, but the cast succeeds completely. Each chair lies waiting and as the actors casually arrive, each adds another unexpected layer to playwright Annie Baker's sparse, carefully-paced, and meticulously-drawn character study.  Maureen Porter as Sofi (left) and Rolland Walsh as Nelson in 'Infinite Life.' Photo by John Rudoff LaRhonda Steele as Eileen in 'Infinite Life.' Photo by John Rudoff A contemporary star of theatrical writing, Baker has won multiple Off-Broadway "Obie" awards. She has a Pulitzer for Drama and was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2017. She's also married to a Baumbauch brother—not Noah, but Nico, which makes her in-laws with Greta Gerwig. In 2023, indie film Janet Planet was Baker's directorial debut, produced and distributed by A24. Baker's work is typically described as "subtle" and "gentle." On one occasion Guardian columnist  and interviewer Mark Lawson described her as "the most original and significant American dramatist since August Wilson." But she has weathered the praise with plays, and in Infinite Life—which debuted just last year in New York—she wants to talk about pain. Each of her characters arrives with their own library: bladder pain, vulvodynia, cancer, vertigo, among others, and each desperately wants to talk about it with someone—anyone. Though it seems like they might evacuate their feelings in a rush, Baker unfolds their stories across the entire 105-minute play. Every character tries to communicate the intensity of their pain, but comes up short. Amidst a tottering marriage, Sofi tries to connect with her husband over the phone, saying: “I don’t wish you were in this pain, but I wish you could feel it for five seconds and know that that’s what it’s like for me 24 hours a day.”  In a hilarious soliloquy worthy of Beckett, Yvette (Kathy Hsieh) tries to share what it’s like when every part of her body fails, and Ginnie (Damaris Webb) falls asleep listening. Left to right: Damaris Webb, Kathy Hsieh, and Karen Trumbo in 'Infinite Life.' Photo by John Rudoff Damaris Webb as Ginnie in 'Infinite Life.' Photo by John Rudoff The humor is dark, but by the end, we care about these six people, all drawn together by the simple grift of trying to treat their various ailments through fasting and juice cleanses. We're engaged with the broken places that propel them forward: disease and pain, loneliness and pain, sexual connection and pain. But while pain is the common thread, loneliness and striving to overcome it are the true engines of this work. Silence, timing, and the perception of time are staples of Baker's work and all three are well executed by director Rebecca Lingafelter in Infinite Life. The script shifts scenes with simple announcements by Sofi, when we are: “six hours later,” “fifteen minutes later,” and so on. Lighting designers Solomon Weisbard and Samantha Kemp make use of use light temperature, color, and intensity to convey time's passage. Infinite Life is the first production of Third Rail Repertory Theatre's 19th season. And sitting on the six chaise lounges you'll also find major players in the company's next two productions: Maureen Porter will direct A Case for the Existence of God, opening in February, and Precipice, which closes out May 2025, is conceived of and performed by Damaris Webb. Third Rail Repertory Theatre presents Infinite Life at CoHo Theatre, 2257 NW Raleigh, through Sun Nov 10, 105 minutes without intermission, showtimes and tickets at thirdrailrep.org, sliding scale $2-$55, the production contains frank discussions of illness, death, abuse, sex and sexual violence.