Unicorn "Next Fall" review by kellyluck

Sometimes, later never comes
Rating: 5

Next Fall
Unicorn Theatre

It begins with the squeal of tires, the crunch of impact. Immediately there is a cacophony of cell phones, the dreaded news bouncing from person to person. The panicked trip to the hospital, and the waiting game begins. For some of us in the audience at the Unicorn's production of "Next Fall", it was all too familiar: a flashback to a time when we found ourselves in the all-night limbo of the waiting room, waiting to see if our life was about to be torn apart. In this production of Geoffrey Nauffts' award-winning play, the terror and pathos is captured with wrenching accuracy, and that's only the beginning.

Adam (Charles Fugate) leaves his lover of five years, Luke (Rusty Sneary) behind in New York in order to attend his family reunion. No sooner does he arrive than he gets the news: Luke has been hit by a car and is in the hospital. Taking the next flight back, he arrives to find his friends Holly (Heidi Van) and Brandon (Doogin Brown) waiting ... and Luke's parents, Arlene (Merle Moores) and Butch (Mark Robbins). What follows is a long, emotionally trying vigil over the comatose Luke as Adam must deal not only with the stress of possibly losing the love of his life, but also dealing with the fact that Luke, a devout Christian from a deeply religious family, never told them the truth about him. As the evening passes, we watch their story interleaved with flashbacks. We see the history of the couple as it developed, and their interactions with the others around them.

"Next Fall" is a story about tension. There is of course the tension of waiting, fretting helplessly while a loved one sits at death's door. Then there is Adam's desire to speak the truth, particularly when he is told visitation is "family only". In the numerous flashbacks, we see the tension between Luke and his on-again, off-again father, and his own tension with being a devout Christian and gay. Even the very atheist Adam finds himself unable to leave the question alone, relentlessly picking at Luke's beliefs, dissecting and deconstructing them obsessively. Nearly every character has a cross to bear, and as the night drags into the small hours and nerves and tempers fray, decades of things unspoken come raging to the forefront.

The play originated on Broadway last March, where it received the Outer Circle Critics John Gassner Award for Best New American Play, and is currently one of the five most-produced new plays in the country. In the Unicorn's presentation, it is easy to see why. The story is compelling, emotionally engaging without dipping into the maudlin. The performances are all one could hope for, our local talents taking the already strong material and getting everything they can out of it. Of particular note are Moores and Robbins as Luke's parents, both seasoned character actors who bring incredible performances. Technically, the production is done simply, a simple set design allowing for a quick flow between the past and present: a change from the original Broadway staging which, this reviewer understands, had difficulty keeping the narrative flow during excessively long scene transitions.

Overall, the mechanism of the narrative is an interesting one. The flashbacks start at the beginning of Adam and Luke's relationship, and work their way gradually forward 'til they converge with the present. While this generally works, there are some moments of ambiguity as we switch back and forth. Also, there are some unusual choices of pacing and characterization; one character makes it nearly all the way to the end of the play before we find out quite who he is and why he's there. As for the ending, it has issues of its own. As the story evolves, the conflict of Luke's life versus his faith takes center stage. Luke and Adam can never quite see eye to eye on it, and as the story concludes, we are left with ambiguity in the person of Adam's final thoughts. Not that ambiguity in narrative is unwelcome: we have seen it used effectively time and time again. But in this case, it almost feels like the author is trying to have it both ways, so that everyone – gay or straight, religious or atheist – can come away feeling vindicated.

These minor points aside, "Next Fall" is a strong, powerfully-acted work, and deserving of the various accolades it has received both here and elsewhere. The Unicorn Theatre has long held its reputation for staging challenging theatre, and this is certainly no exception. They are to be commended for staging this production.
As this reviewer left the theatre, it occurred to her that, given the story is set in 2009 before marriage equality was recognized in New York state, it is already, to some degree, a period piece. Right now in this country, the vast majority of same-sex couples are legally strangers, with no ties to hold their family together when things get bad. It is changing, though: state by state, city by city. Partnerships are being recognized, hospital policies rewritten to recognize the patient's wishes. It is increasingly apparent that the day will soon come when this story will be nothing more than a reminder of a time that is well and truly gone. For this reviewer, and others who have seen what happens first-hand when it is not, that day cannot come soon enough.