Tomek Adler and Karl Herlinger in Miki Johnson’s “American Falls” (Photo – Darrett Sanders, echotheatercompany.com). .
“American Falls” is presented as a “poetic and sensuous interplay of stories and monologues that exposes the inner life of everyday people desperately seeking meaning and love”.
By Carol Edger Germain
It delves deeply into the inner lives and pain of various residents, presenting five vignettes simultaneously on stage, the stage lights indicating which characters are in action while the others remain in the dark in the background.
There is minimal interaction between the sets of characters in the four scenes, but we become slowly aware of the relationships among the characters as we put the puzzle pieces together until the final rush of mutual despair, then a surge of hope from some, but not all, of them. Billy Mound of Clouds (played by Leandro Cano), a perceptive Indian working as a shoe salesman, serves as narrator while telling his own story. Three friends, Matt (Ian Merrigan), Maddie (Jessica Goldapple), and Eric (Eric Hunnicutt) spend the evening telling stories of past encounters and drinking beer and Jaegermeister, and for much of the play we’re wondering how they will be integrated into the story, as they seem to have less depth and dilemma as the others. While everyone has their own tragedies and triumphs, Samuel (Karl Herlinger) has it coming at him from many directions and handles it with the least strength. His wife Lisa (Deborah Puette) has committed suicide and reminisces and explains from “nowhere” (not a spoiler, she’s dead from the beginning of the play). He’s left to raise his child, Isaac (Tomek Adler, a child with a rare gift for one particular talent!) and deal with his demons and compulsions, with unexpected transitions very effectively portrayed, subtly and steadily throughout his monologue, ultimately presenting a quite disturbing tableau. A hardened older woman, Samantha (Barbara Tarbuck) ruefully remembers her myriad poor choices, especially in raising her children, softening occasionally but snapping back to a “what’s done is done” attitude. Not much more can be said without spoiling the bits and pieces and surprises that come together as one integrated story in the final moments.
Ghost Light (Photo – echotheatercompany.com).
Highly recommended – and also highly recommended that you see it on one of the dates when it is followed by “Ghost Light” – a short play consisting of stories told by one actor on the stage after the production has finished, when only the ghost light, the safety light left on when the theater goes dark, is shining. Deborah Puette is fascinating as the storyteller, I saw it as an independent performance before I saw “American Falls” and would love to see it again.
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