Dante Giammarco directs and stars as Father Keating in the production that also includes J Domenic DeMuro and James Caceres. Performances continue through Dec. 30. 

Taking place in real time, The Messenger, according to Jonah Productions, "chronicles the final hour of a condemned man's life. A visible clock is ticking as Jimmy, a death row inmate, is visited by Father Keating, the prison chaplain, to hear his final confession. A prison guard taunts Jimmy by announcing the passing of time at 15 minutes intervals, heightening the tension as Father Keating entreats Jimmy to open up about the crime that brought him to these final moments. But Jimmy refrains from speaking until he asks Keating to share his last meal, seemingly putting him through a sort of test and then turning on him. Yet despite Jimmy's unpredictable behavior, Keating realizes that the condemned man desperately needs to open up to him. Perhaps he will but not until Keating obliges him by revealing his own shameful secret."

Playwright Kodiak is also the author of My Brother's Keeper, which made the final selection at the O'Neill Theater Center's National Playwrights Conference.

Peter De Maio is the associate director of The Messenger.

Roy Arias Stages is located at 300 West 43rd Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues). For more information and tickets, call Smart Tix at (212) 868-4444.