The Fall of Man
By Jonathan Holloway and John Milton

"In RBP’s intimate space—no bigger than the bedroom in which Fall is set—we get a visceral look at the couple’s copulation and subsequent disintegration... As a brief episode exploring lust’s pleasures and pitfalls, Fall of Man brings an elegiac tone to the plaintive “everycouple.” Mankind will continually attempt to fashion crude new Edens only to be expelled again and again. Not by an omniscient being, but by our own inability to reconcile the dream with the reality. It’s a cycle of sin we’re reluctant to leave for its comforting familiarity. And like Veronica and Peter, each of us takes a turn in many roles—at times the tempter, the tempted, the serpent and the forbidden."
Four Stars, Chicago Theatre Beat

"Adam Webster’s astute direction encourages them to internalize the text, solidifying the torrent of feeling both Milton and Holloway examine. Webster’s use of the intimate space makes the emotional pain undeniable; it’s a fall that’s anything but soft."
NewCity Stage

The Right Brain Project kicked off 2012 with British playwright Jonathan Holloway's titillating story of man's passion and inevitable fall from grace - a voyeuristic look at a steamy and illicit affair between a wealthy man and his children's Polish nanny, fused with Milton's Paradise Lost. The Fall of Man, a restless play about humanity's longing and our fall, received its U.S. premiere directed by Adam Webster.

Per Adam Webster: "I was immediately drawn to Holloway's use of language - sparse but loaded with emotion: fear, doubt, regret, lust, hatred, hubris and remorse, all in less than an hour. Peter and Veronica attack each other with language, as well as silence, and then attack themselves with Milton's language. But they also use Milton's language to court each other, expediting their illicit affair, and then to ruminate, both individually and collectively, on the powerlessness of man to fight temptation. By juxtaposing Milton's text with these sharp shards of dialogue, Holloway immediately thrusts Paradise Lost into a contemporary, compelling, and relatable light."

Director:	Adam Webster
Stage Manager:	Kim Caldwell
Set Design:	Noel Dominique
Lighting Design:	Michael C. Smith
Sound Design:	Stephen Gawrit
Costume Design:	Carla Hamilton
Vocal Coach:	Christopher Marino
Featuring:	Corey Noble
	Anna Robinson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Video by Stephen Gawrit