cover illustration by Steve Sandstrom
“…This
is a richly written play, with its complexities and deceptive depths cleverly
hidden by anecdotal small talk. Many authors use this approach and get lost in
it. Their plays become stop-and-go affairs, but not Johnson’s. No matter how
small the chat, he constantly sustains the arcs of his characters and the lines
of their actions. This play is only three characters and three scenes in
ninety-five minutes, but there is nothing small or safe about it.
Indeed, THE FALL TO EARTH is a dangerous play with terrible things to say
about family fabric and the ego of parenting. It asks its three performers to
take huge risks and get naked emotionally….”
Jonathan Abarbanel, W T T W Public Radio & Windy City Times
“Some
people need years of therapy to get an inkling of who they are. Chicago
playwright Joel Drake Johnson takes only ninety-five minutes to reveal the
wounds, quirks and flaws of the three women in his fascinating new play, THE
FALL TO EARTH.
A compact drama with dark comedic overtones, THE FALL TO EARTH is a
revelatory slice of a mother’s life as she travels to her son’s town after he
dies....
In THE FALL TO EARTH, the mother, stays in a hotel with her estranged adult
daughter,. A local cop helps them through the process….
It’s hard to watch two family members suffer so deeply and harm each other so
consistently, without feeling sympathy and possibly a disturbing sense of
familiarity.... Johnson holds up a mirror for us to feel our own aches and also
to laugh at our flawed ways of coping.
Dark tales such as this are a hard sell to people who prefer Happy Meal
theater. But for those who like drama that drags them down dark, unfamiliar
paths and into the rocky terrain of their own hearts, THE FALL TO EARTH is a
rewarding trek.”
Orla Swift, The News Observer (Durham)
3 F
originally produced by Steppenwolf Theater Company
I S B N: 0-88145-320-X, $12.95