Theater Review: Next Fall

A look at the Consequences of Putting Things Off
By Lauren Yarger
What’s Geoffrey Nauffts’ play Next Fall about? Depending on whom you ask, the answer might be gay rights, relationships, religion or about not taking anything for granted.

In reality, it’s a mix of all of those issues wrapped into a thought-provoking Broadway work guaranteed to prompt lots of discussion long after you’ve left the theater.

The sounds of a car crash open the action set in a hospital waiting room where family and friends of Luke (Patrick Heusinger) gather while they wait for news about whether he’ll emerge from a coma following the accident. His divorced parents, Butch (Cotter Smith) and Arlene (Connie Ray), make small talk with Luke’s Christian friend, Brandon (Sean Dugan) and Holly (Maddie Corman), who employs Luke in her candle shop, until the arrival of Luke’s lover, Adam (Patrick Breen).

Adam wants to visit Luke and to be involved in medical decisions, but Holly reminds him to back off since Luke never has come out to his parents. Through flashbacks, we see how the couple met and how Luke’s Christian faith and hypochondriac Adam’s atheism clash throughout their relationship.

Disappointed by his son’s decision to switch from a law career to acting (never mind candle selling), Butch, in a move that makes us wonder just how oblivious he is to his son’s sexuality, tells Luke that if he is gay, he’ll never let him see his younger brother again. Luke does try tell his father the truth once, when Butch makes a surprise visit to the couple’s apartment (which they hurriedly try to “degay”), but he declines to do so when Butch chooses that moment to be supportive of his son’s decision to pursue an acting career. Luke promises Adam that he’ll come out to his brother “next fall,” but that season never comes. In a nice metaphor, we hear about Luke’s stellar performance in Our Town, a play about not taking the people you love for granted.
At the heart of Next Fall is the religious conflict between the two men and just about every argument (and stereotype) makes its way into the script, though Nauffts doesn’t really take sides. Holly has tried every kind of new age religion, but falls back on the traditions of her Catholic upbringing for comfort during the ordeal at the hospital. Butch is legalistic and judgmental; especially about gays and Arlene’s dependence on the prescription medications that helped break up their marriage (apparently divorce and gambling aren’t issues for Butch, though). Arlene isn’t sure what she believes.

Luke says he has accepted Jesus Christ, and because of that commitment, all of his sins can be wiped clean. He simply prays for forgiveness after he and Adam have sex.

“We all sin,” he says. “This just happens to be mine.”

Brandon eventually pulls back from their relationship, unable to accept Luke’s constant sinning/repenting routine. Brandon struggles with homosexuality himself, and understands the temptations, but believes Luke crossed a line when he entered into the lifestyle and into a serious relationship with Adam.

“It’s human nature,” Luke rationalizes. “We can’t escape it.”

Adam, meanwhile, doesn’t believe in anything and for him, Luke’s praying after sex becomes a way for God to intrude into their relationship.

“I want you to love me more than Him,” he tells Luke.

In an interesting twist, Luke is kind of quiet about his faith and is reluctant to share too much. Some of Adam’s friends already have stopped spending time with them because they disapprove of Luke’s faith and its negative views about homosexuality. When pushed, Luke fields all of the typical questions non believers ask, like, “What about the Mongolian goat herder who never has heard of Christ?” or “How can the killer of Matthew Shepard repent and go to heaven while Shepard, if non-repentant, heads to hell?” Luke doesn’t really answer, perhaps because he’s somewhat confused himself.

There aren’t any easy answers here, and that’s Nauffts’ intent. The play explores the various relationships and their complexities, but doesn’t try to be a spokesperson for any cause. Interestingly, if Nauffts were to change the Luke character to a female who gave in to the temptation of living with Adam outside of marriage, who struggled with the sin involved with that decision and who was reluctant to tell her father about it, he’d have essentially the same play (though I’m almost certain Sir Elton John would not have signed on as a producer for that one).

The ensemble cast, which director Sheryl Kaller fought to transfer from the Off-Broadway production she helmed last season despite the fact that there aren’t any stars deemed necessary for a successful Broadway run, all turn in solid performances. Some of the more intimate feel of the smaller Off-Broadway theater is lost at the Helen Hayes, but Wilson Chin and Jeff Croiter (scenic and lighting design) effectively make the audience feel as though they are right there in the waiting room with these folks.

Next Fall plays at the Helen Hayes Theatre, 240 West 44th St., NYC. For tickets, call (212) 239-6200 ; Outside NY/NJ/CT: (800) 432-7250. Special discounted tickets for groups are available through Masterwork Productions at http://www.givenik.com/?code=Masterworks.

Christians might also like to know:
• Language
• Nudity in a photograph
• Homosexual activity