Langley Collyer, the piano-playing brother in Richard Greenberg's new play, The
Dazzle, is so concerned about time passing that he regularly attempts to slow it down. One of the ways he goes about this in his turn-of-the-century upper Manhattan mansion is by observing objects for long periods--a hank of hair, a single thread in an antimacassar. He is dazzled by these things. Another habit is retarding his tempos; at one point, he executes the Minute Waltz so lugubriously on the piano that his more practical brother Homer is hard pressed to identify it.

This tortoise-pace rendition of Chopin's piece, which can usually be recognized instantly, turns out to be a metaphor for the play itse[...]