 In October 2008 , Schwimmer made his Off @-@ Broadway directorial debut in Fault Lines at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York . The production won a mixed review from the Los Angeles Times , which wrote : " Based on Fault Lines ... we can 't really tell whether Schwimmer has much talent as a director . We 're surprised he didn 't try something more challenging for his debut . If not much else , Schwimmer has encouraged his actors to intense their energy levels and comic timing at all costs " . The New York Post , however , noted that Schwimmer " knows a thing or two about freewheeling banter ... and for a good while the play crackles with terrific dialogue , expertly delivered " . In February 2009 , he returned to theater in a Chicago production of Thornton Wilder 's three @-@ act play Our Town as George Gibbs at the Lookingglass Theatre . " Schwimmer ... turns in a poignant , richly textured and demonstrably heartfelt performance as George Gibbs . I 've seen a fair bit of Schwimmer 's post @-@ Friends stage work in London and New York , and I 've never seen him better " , commented the Chicago Tribune . 
