Steve Noll
After his partner is hurt in a car accident, Adam (Paul Lorentz, left) confronts family and friends: Holly (Molly Vanderlin), Brandon (Jon Klingenberg), Arlene (Colleen Murphy) and Butch (James Rowe).
Love — whether it’s aimed at God or at an individual — can be complicated, abused or taken for granted.
That’s the message in Next Fall, a play written by Geoffrey Nauffts and onstage through Feb. 8 at the Bartell Theatre. The StageQ production, directed by Dennis Yadon, follows the relationship of a middle-aged Adam (Paul Lorentz) and younger Luke (Brett Kissell) through flashbacks as Adam sits in a hospital waiting room with Luke’s friends and family. Luke has undergone surgery after nearly being killed in a traffic accident. Meanwhile Adam wrestles with Luke’s Christianity and deciding whether or not to reveal to Luke’s parents, Arlene (Colleen Murphy) and Butch (James Rowe), that he and Luke are partners.
Lorentz does a beautiful job portraying a vulnerable, self-doubting man in midlife crisis who also fires off witty, sarcastic critiques of all things religious. Molly Vanderlin and Jon Klingenberg gracefully play the roles of the inquisitive, even-tempered friends, Holly and Brandon.
Borrowing themes from Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, which is referenced in the play, Next Fall wrestles with such themes as shame, death and the afterlife, and how friendships can transcend differences in beliefs. Every character in this play is dealing with shame in one form or another, and all find a small fraction of peace through faith — not necessarily solely Christian faith, but faith in love and its ability to seep into life’s darkest crevasses.
Next Fall also depicts two types of Christianity. Arlene views her relationship with God as a personal friendship, and Butch sees the Bible as a set of strict laws.
Kissell’s endearing and heartbreaking depiction of Luke — whose complicated choice to share his life with both Adam and God sets the foundation for the story — also makes this play’s message unforgettable. Because of the honesty and vulnerability expressed by the excellent cast, it would be too elementary of an observation to conclude that the play is pushing the message to abandon religion and follow your heart.
Instead, Next Fall shows how complicated the heart can be — and all the love, hate, regret and redemption it is capable of producing.
