[ back ]
'Fall to Earth' comes down heavy
(by Herb Hammer - July 02, 2009)
THEATER, BY HERB HAMMER
'Fall to Earth' comes down heavy
What are Fay and her daughter Rachel doing in a motel room? Why did they fly to this city far from their Chicago home? Well, playwright Joel Drake Johnson won't tell you just yet.
While "The Fall to Earth" playing downtown at the Bang and the Clatter has its comic moments, don't be fooled. This is heavy stuff and not for the squeamish.
Not long after the fuss with the door key, the women enter. Fay, who has never been far from home, finds staying in a motel exciting. Rachel, a modern businesswomen, is just unhappy. She doesn't want to stay in the same room with her mother and mostly sulks, curled up on the bed.
Fay, at this moment, appears to be wildly eccentric, standing on the bed imagining what it would be like to be on an airplane that's about to crash. She never stops talking.
As the plot slowly leaks out, we learn the reason for the trip. Fay and Rachel have come to identify the body of Rachel's brother, Fay's son. How the 30-year-old died and what led up to it comes later. Mr. Johnson is in no hurry.
Kate Duffield is a whirlwind motor mouth as Fay. She goes from lunacy to loving and then to cruelty. She captures the character's idiosyncrasies, her mood, her slipping in and out of sanity. Fay pretty much is the play, and it's a good one.
Rachel's turn comes later. She doesn't like being with her mother. Early on, she let's us know she doesn't want to be here. Even when she finds out the details of her brother's suicide, she doesn't flinch. It's later that Teresa McDonough gets the chance to show her intensity, her skill at exploding.
In the supporting role of the police officer who first found Kenny dead, Sara H. Kunchik is just fine. With fairly little to do, she manages to reveal her troubled home life.
Mr. Johnson has an interesting way of exposing his characters bit by bit. Starting with a blank slate, he gradually reveals their inner workings and grim relationships.
The fourth character, Kenny, becomes as much a part of the plot as the others. You can feel his presence as the story of his life and his death come out.
"The Fall to Earth" does much to draw you in and keep you there. But it's entirely too long. Originally done as a 1 1/2-hour one-act, an intermission has been inserted. By the time you leave your seat, two hours have passed.
The part of Terry, the police officer, could well be eliminated. And Fay's endless ranting could have been tightened up.
Director Chris Johnston keeps the intensity under control but has a problem with the scene at the police station. Pushed to the side and pulled forward from Sean Perry's right-on motel-room set, the scene is cramped and awkward. This could be fixed now that the play has seen an audience.
The Bang and the Clatter has two stages, one in Akron and this one at 224 Euclid Ave., a few steps from Cleveland's Public Square. For information and tickets, call (330) 606-5317.
[ back ]
