''Angels Fall'' is a play by

Lanford Wilson Lanford Wilson (April 13, 1937March 24, 2011) was an American playwright. His work, as described by ''The New York Times'', was "earthy, realist, greatly admired ndwidely performed". Fox, Margalit"Lanford Wilson, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwrigh ...

. It premiered

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

at the

Circle Repertory Company The Circle Repertory Company, originally named the Circle Theater Company, was a theatre company in New York City that ran from 1969 to 1996. It was founded on July 14, 1969, in Manhattan, in a second floor loft at Broadway and 83rd Street by di ...

in 1982. The play ran on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

in 1983 and was nominated for the

Tony Award for Best Play The Tony Award for Best Play (formally, an Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre) is an annual award given to the best new (non-musical) play on Broadway, as determined by Tony Award voters. There was no award in the Tonys' first year ...

Characters

*Niles Harris: a cynical, middle-aged

university professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a 'person who professes'. Professors ...

*Vita Harris: his much younger wife *Don Tabaha: a young Native American medical student *Marion Clay: a wealthy, middle-aged

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died and has usually not remarried. The male form, "widower", is first attested in the 14th century, by the 19th century supplanting "widow" with reference to men. The adjecti ...

*Salvatore Zappala: Marion's young lover *Father William Doherty: an elderly, idealistic

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

Niles and Vita were originally called Niles and Vita Heron, but Wilson changed their names when it was pointed out that "Vita Heron" sounded like Vita Herring, a brand of

herring Herring are various species of forage fish, belonging to the Order (biology), order Clupeiformes. Herring often move in large Shoaling and schooling, schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate wate ...

Plot summary

nuclear accident A nuclear and radiation accident is defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as "an event that has led to significant consequences to people, the environment or the facility." Examples include radiation poisoning, lethal effect ...

has occurred in a remote section of

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, and two couples who had been traveling through the area are forced to stop and seek shelter while awaiting further word from the authorities. They find shelter at a small

Catholic mission Missionary work of the Catholic Church has often been undertaken outside the geographically defined parishes and dioceses by religious orders who have people and material resources to spare, and some of which specialized in missions. Eventually, p ...

ministering to impoverished local Native Americans. The first couple consists of a middle-aged professor and his attractive young wife. He is being taken to a sanitarium near Phoenix after a recent

nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

. The professor has become disillusioned with

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

, and now likes to rant that education itself is an evil. The second couple are a wealthy middle-aged widow and her much younger lover, an aspiring tennis pro. He initially appears to be merely a toy, but it gradually becomes clear that she loves him deeply and is terrified of losing him. While at the mission, the couples encounter Father Doherty, an elderly priest who runs the mission. Doherty relies heavily on his foster son, Don Tabaha, a young Native American. Doherty wants desperately for Tabaha to stay in New Mexico and continue working at the mission, but Tabaha wants nothing more than to get away and leave the poverty of New Mexico. All characters' future plans are put on hold, while they wait to learn whether the nuclear accident can be resolved. If the problem is fixed, they must all make difficult decisions and move on with their lives. If not, they may all die there at the mission.

Production history

''Angels Fall'' premiered

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

at the Circle Repertory Theatre on October 17, 1982 and closed on November 28, 1982. Directed by

Marshall W. Mason Marshall W. Mason (born February 24, 1940) is an American theater director, educator, and writer. Mason founded the Circle Repertory Company in New York City and was artistic director of the company for 18 years (1969–1987). He received an Obie ...

, the production featured

Barnard Hughes Bernard “Barnard” Aloysius Kiernan Hughes (July 16, 1915 – July 11, 2006) was an American TV, theater, and film actor. Hughes became famous for a variety of roles: his most notable came after middle age, and he was often cast as a dith ...

as Father William Doherty and

Fritz Weaver Fritz William Weaver (January 19, 1926 − November 26, 2016) was an American actor. He appeared in over 170 theatre, television, and film productions in a career spanning nearly 60 years. Weaver won the 1970 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play ...

as Niles Harris. The role of Father Doherty was written for Barnard Hughes.Wilson, Lanford. '"Script'', ''Angels Falls" Dramatists Play Service, Inc., 1983. , p. 4. The play premiered on

at the

Longacre Theatre The Longacre Theatre is a Broadway theater at 220 West 48th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1913, it was designed by Henry B. Herts and is named for Longacre Square, the former ...

on January 18, 1983 for previews, officially on January 22, and closed on March 13, 1983 after 57 performances. Directed by Marshall W. Mason, scenic design was by John Lee Beatty with costumes by

Jennifer von Mayrhauser Jennifer von Mayrhauser is an American costume designer who has designed costumes for more than thirty Broadway productions, and is notable for her significant contributions in film, television, and theatre. Life and studies Von Mayrhauser was ...

, lighting by Dennis Parichy, sound by Chuck London, and original music by Norman L. Berman. The cast featured Weaver as Niles Harris, Nancy Snyder as Vita Harris,

Danton Stone Danton Stone (born in Queens, New York) is an American stage, film and television actor. Stage Broadway *''Fifth of July'' (1980) as Weston Hurley *'' Angels Fall'' (1983) as Don Tabaha *''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (2001) as Martini O ...

as Don Tabaha, Tanya Berezin as Marion Clay, Brian Tarantina as Salvatore Zappala, and Hughes as Father William Doherty. This play was commissioned and initially presented by the New World Festival Inc. in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

on June 19, 1982, with Richard Seff as Father Doherty.

Critical response

Reviewing the play from Miami for ''

The Boston Phoenix ''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the now defunct ''Boston Phoenix'', '' ...

'', Carolyn Clay remarked that the play "has two pretty good acts, five credible but highly theatrical characters (and one wife), and a striking central strategy: its inhabitants must choose how to live their lives in the shadow of the apocalypse — here represented by a nuclear-related accident just around the corner. What the play could use, and at this point won't get, is a new premise. The one it has is, alas, a little the worse for wear: disparate characters are stalled together at the crossroads of life where, tense and on edge, they beep at one another until someone spills his guts all over the intersection. Given that he chose to trap himself in such a formula, Wilson decorates the walls with aplomb." The reviewer for ''

The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles both in Electronic publishing, electronic format and a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 ...

'' wrote: "Traditional in form, the play involves a contemporary phenomenon: the incidental threats posed by a nuclear age. But it is primarily about individual responsibility, vocation, and personal fulfillment ... Although Mr. Wilson's partial resolution of the central conflict seems rather too pat and predictable, the manner in which his characters reveal themselves to one another and the audience is theatrically engaging. Under Mr. Mason's sensitive guidance, the Circle Rep cast responds with winning conviction to the play's comic as well as its more touching moments, to the frequently sharp exchanges, and to the passages of Wilsonian eloquence."Beaufort, John
"An engaging and 'thoughtfully serious' comedy from Lanford Wilson; ''Angels Fall'' Play by Lanford Wilson. Directed by Marshall W. Mason."
''

'', October 27, 1982.

Notes

External links