Falling

The action in Falling alternates between a hospital, where loved ones anxiously wait for news following a multi-car accident, and a couple meeting on a train to Maine and beginning an affair. The illicit romance has its charms, as married professor James (Josh Bywater) and fifth-grade teacher Mildred (Kerry Fitzgibbons) bond over a mutual fascination with history. As the play unfolds, we discover that James and Mildred are the accident victims from the other narrative strand. Their friends and relatives begin to put the pieces together as they kill time, playing cards and sharing crummy diner food. Janine Kyanko and Billy Weimer (as Mildred’s sister and boyfriend) and Tiffany May McRae (as James’s wife) all deliver thoughtful performances. But Elanna White, as James’s mentally disturbed sister, is simply loud and annoying, failing to gain enough sympathy to make her obnoxious presence worthwhile. Though Amy E. Witting’s script relies on major dramatic reveals, it brings few big surprises. Still, despite its flaws and a hackneyed premise, likable and sensitive characters give Falling a decent lift. (Visit our Fringe Festival page for more reviews, and fringenyc.org for more information.)—Lauren Reddy