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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><b style><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">NEXT FALL, emotionally challenging, thought provoking at Blank
Canvas</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">Roy Berko</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Palatino;color:black">(Member, American
Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">When Blank Canvas opened its doors in a funky hard to find
near-west side arts building, the question was whether artistic director Pat
Ciamacco’s underfunded endeavor of love would make it.<span style> </span>The first show, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW
MUSICAL, was an artistic smash hit.<span style>
</span>It was followed with critically acclaimed OF MICE AND MEN and then
HELLCAB.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Their newest offering, NEXT FALL, is an emotionally
challenging, thought provoking drama which continues the theatre’s “wow”
streak.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Geoffrey Nauffts’s NEXT FALL opened off-Broadway in 2009 to
extremely positive reviews.<span style> </span>Sold
out shows resulted in three extensions and then a move to a successful Broadway
run.</span><span style="font-family:Palatino"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Termed as “artful and thoughtful and
very moving,” and “humorously absorbing and touching,” and “the funniest
heartbreaker in town,” it concerns </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Adam, an older, gay, neurotic atheist,
and his relationship with Luke, an impulsive, closeted gay actor who is a
devout Christian.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">This is a match that defies the
odds.<span style> </span>Luke prays before meals,
after sex, and won’t reveal his sexuality to his traditional Southern
Bible-belt family.<span style> </span>Adam is a hypochondriac,
who doesn’t believe in heaven, <i style>The Bible</i>,
or the power of prayer.<span style> </span>They prove
the adage that sometimes love conquers all.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Their five-year relationship seems to
be hitting a road bump when, while Adam is out of town, the taxi Luke is riding
in is involved in a horrendous accident, leaving Luke in a vegetative
state.<span style> </span>Adam, and Luke’s family and
friends, are forced to deal with life, death and challenges to their individual
belief systems.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">The play, which starts with a loud crash ends with the
audience in a state of emotional angst, should leave even the most emotionally
void members of the audience reaching for Kleenex and questioning their own
convictions.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">The Blank Canvas’s production, under the adept guidance of
Patrick Ciamacco, is absorbing.<span style>
</span>The cast doesn’t portray the characters, they live their individual
roles.<span style> </span>Motivations are clear, with
each performer so well texturing their roles that each person becomes
transparent.<span style> </span>Wisely, there is an
avoidance of the fey physical and vocal affections that are often woven in the
creation of gay characters.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Slight Timothy J. Allen’s Luke is believable as the obsessed
young man who clings to religion to make his world work.<span style> </span>He cannot and does not waver from
Jesus-centered path in spite of the fact that his intransigency leaves him in a
quandary regarding his life style, and may end his relationship with Adam.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Curt Arnold, as Luke’s lover, Adam, creates a clear daddy
figure who allows Luke to live his gay life in New York, while hiding his
sexual identity from his family.<span style>
</span>Arnold clearly establishes both the character’s theological ambivalence
and emotional bonding to Luke, with an underlying insecure hysteria. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Anne McEvoy, with a southern accent highlighting her history
of drug and non-conventional life decisions, is both humorous and pathetic as
Luke’s biological mother, who abandoned him early in his life.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Lindsay Pier, as Luke and Adam’s friend and candle store
employer, creates a focused character, as does Jason Elliott Brown as Brandon,
Luke’s closeted friend.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Jeffrey Glover captivates as Luke’s explosive Bible thumping,
homophobic father.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">The play takes place in a series of settings, which, because
of the limited size of the venue’s thrust stage, creates crowded areas.<span style> </span>Though it is possible to figure out
where each scene is taking place, reference to the program’s scene settings
list is often needed.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Time eras, which cover 2007 to 2012, are identified by
musical bridges.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><i style><span style="font-family:Palatino">CAPSULE
JUDGMENT:<span style> </span>NEXT FALL continues the
Blank Canvas’s streak of well conceived productions of challenging
scripts.<span style> </span>Though viewers may have
to set aside their own individual beliefs in order to buy into the play’s
ending, this is an overall positive theatrical experience and very well worth
seeing.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">NEXT FALL runs through October 21 in its theatre at 1305
West 78<sup>th</sup> Street, Suite 211, Cleveland.<span style> </span>Get directions to the theatre on the website.<span style> </span>(My GPS was of little help).<span style> </span>Once you arrive at the site, go around
the first building to find the entrance and then follow the signs to the second
floor acting space.<span style> </span>It’s an
adventurous trip, but worth the effort. For tickets and directions go to <i style><a href="http://www.blankcanvasthetre.com">www.blankcanvasthetre.com</a></i></span></p>