Some families live in a war zone. A case in point are the Martins, the Midwestern suburban family depicted in Falling,the powerful new play by Deanna Jent which is now in a West-Coast premiere at Rogue Machine.
Josh, the Martins’ 18-year-old son, is severely autistic. Locked in his own strange little world, he is also susceptible to sudden bursts of wild, violent anger. No one is safe when he lashes out like that, not even his mother and principal caregiver, Tami (Karen Landry). He almost chokes her to death at one point in the play (which is based on Jent's personal experience of raising an autistic son).
Lisa (Tara Windley), Josh's fiery younger sister, can no longer abide living in fear of him. If Josh isn't institutionalized, she'll leave home and move in with her grandmother (Karen Landry). This creates an almost inhuman dilemma for Tami and her husband Bill (Matthew Elkins). They're aware that Josh's autism is threatening to tear all of them apart, but they also know that the institutional help available to them is not only limited but suspect. How will Josh be treated by the strangers, the overseers, who take him into their care? Will he be maltreated, starved, or even beaten?
Falling is all about the fight to love someone who's hard to love. Tami and Bill have every right to give up on Josh, yet they continue to struggle, with all their strength and determination, to beat the horrible odds and see it through with him.
The Martins' heartrending physical and spiritual battle with their fate is dramatized skillfully and vibrantly by the playwright and her remarkable cast and director.
