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Light Falls
LOOK ME IN THE EYE AND TELL ME YOU'LL NEVER LEAVE ME.
A woman wakes up with a stranger beside her. A student argues with his lover. A single mother fights to feed her baby. A married man flirts with two younger women. And far away, one devastating event is about to change all their lives forever.
Artistic Director Sarah Frankcom says goodbye to the Royal Exchange with an extraordinary new play by Simon Stephens, with original music by Jarvis Cocker. Connecting five relatives in five disparate English towns, from Blackpool to Durham, LIGHT FALLS is a richly layered play about life in the face of death, about how our love survives us after we've gone – and about how family, community and kindness help the North survive.
A woman wakes up with a stranger beside her. A student argues with his lover. A single mother fights to feed her baby. A married man flirts with two younger women. And far away, one devastating event is about to change all their lives forever.
Artistic Director Sarah Frankcom says goodbye to the Royal Exchange with an extraordinary new play by Simon Stephens, with original music by Jarvis Cocker. Connecting five relatives in five disparate English towns, from Blackpool to Durham, LIGHT FALLS is a richly layered play about life in the face of death, about how our love survives us after we've gone – and about how family, community and kindness help the North survive.
- GenresPlays
120 pages, Paperback
Published October 24, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 14, 2023
3.5, rounded down.
This is more back to form for Stephens, whose latest play (Morning Sun) I didn't much like. Here he creates a scenario in which middle-aged mother Christine tells us about her final day of life, before having a subarachnoid hematoma in a supermarket and dying, in a long opening monologue. The play then interweaves the stories of what her husband and three children are doing at the precise moment she is leaving the earth, and then culminates with them all coming together at the end for her funeral. Not exactly a laugh riot - but quietly effective for the most part.
But here's my issue with the play: in each of the four encounters, the family member is the least likeable one and we always side with the other character in whatever interaction is going on. The vain husband is engineering his first three-way with two young girls, who definitely deserve better. Gay neurotic son Stephen is picking a fight with his loyal and terrific boyfriend Andy. Jess is trying to get rid of Michael, whom she has met the night before and who brought her home drunk, DIDN'T take advantage of the situation, and is a kind and caring man - again, much better than she deserves. Other daughter, Ashe, who has selfishly tried to commit suicide, won't give the time of day to her ex, Joe - who has recently completed rehab, gotten his act together, and wants to come back to take care of her and his young son. Even Christine, who in her last moments, shoves an old man aside at the market in order to get a bottle of vodka, breaking nine months of sobriety, is no one to cheer for.
I'm NOT negating this MIGHT be Stephens' whole point - these are very flawed people, but they are still worthy of sympathy for their humanness and grief. But it is very had to care, when you are thinking that they really aren't very nice people. Plus, the song, composed expressly for the premiere UK production, that weaves in and out of the proceedings is, in a world, dreadful (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu3MU...) - notably in the Chicago production, a new song was created to take its place.
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/201...
https://www.chicagotribune.com/entert...
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/li...
https://thirdcoastreview.com/2022/07/...
This is more back to form for Stephens, whose latest play (Morning Sun) I didn't much like. Here he creates a scenario in which middle-aged mother Christine tells us about her final day of life, before having a subarachnoid hematoma in a supermarket and dying, in a long opening monologue. The play then interweaves the stories of what her husband and three children are doing at the precise moment she is leaving the earth, and then culminates with them all coming together at the end for her funeral. Not exactly a laugh riot - but quietly effective for the most part.
But here's my issue with the play: in each of the four encounters, the family member is the least likeable one and we always side with the other character in whatever interaction is going on. The vain husband is engineering his first three-way with two young girls, who definitely deserve better. Gay neurotic son Stephen is picking a fight with his loyal and terrific boyfriend Andy. Jess is trying to get rid of Michael, whom she has met the night before and who brought her home drunk, DIDN'T take advantage of the situation, and is a kind and caring man - again, much better than she deserves. Other daughter, Ashe, who has selfishly tried to commit suicide, won't give the time of day to her ex, Joe - who has recently completed rehab, gotten his act together, and wants to come back to take care of her and his young son. Even Christine, who in her last moments, shoves an old man aside at the market in order to get a bottle of vodka, breaking nine months of sobriety, is no one to cheer for.
I'm NOT negating this MIGHT be Stephens' whole point - these are very flawed people, but they are still worthy of sympathy for their humanness and grief. But it is very had to care, when you are thinking that they really aren't very nice people. Plus, the song, composed expressly for the premiere UK production, that weaves in and out of the proceedings is, in a world, dreadful (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu3MU...) - notably in the Chicago production, a new song was created to take its place.
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/201...
https://www.chicagotribune.com/entert...
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/li...
https://thirdcoastreview.com/2022/07/...
May 11, 2021
A master at work. The blending of different scenarios/scenes is incredible. I felt a real sense of personal nostalgia too considering two of the locations are Stockport and Ulverston - two places that feature heavily in my own childhood/early life. Brilliant.
March 12, 2023
I loved reading this. Hard to follow to begin with due to the overlapping of characters and scenes, but once I'd got my head around who was who and where they were it got much easier.
This was an incredibly honest play, heartbreakingly real and raw with some very interesting familial and relationship dynamics. It seamlessly went from scene to scene, overlapping at times, in an exceptionally clever way.
For me, the opening monologue was the killer though. It was so well written and a perfect framing device for this play- setting the audience up with crucial information that, when it comes down to it, the characters don't know immediately. Which makes it all the more poignant when it starts to rain, because we know exactly what that means for Christine. Life goes on as normal without the knowing at first... until, of course, it doesn't.
This play reminded me a little of 'Things I Know to be True' with the whole family dynamic and I could imagine Frantic Assembly doing a very interesting adaptation of this.
Fab. I love Simon Stephens.
This was an incredibly honest play, heartbreakingly real and raw with some very interesting familial and relationship dynamics. It seamlessly went from scene to scene, overlapping at times, in an exceptionally clever way.
For me, the opening monologue was the killer though. It was so well written and a perfect framing device for this play- setting the audience up with crucial information that, when it comes down to it, the characters don't know immediately. Which makes it all the more poignant when it starts to rain, because we know exactly what that means for Christine. Life goes on as normal without the knowing at first... until, of course, it doesn't.
This play reminded me a little of 'Things I Know to be True' with the whole family dynamic and I could imagine Frantic Assembly doing a very interesting adaptation of this.
Fab. I love Simon Stephens.
June 7, 2022
An ensemble play dealing with loss and familial destruction, fatal desires and broken esteems. Nothing forced, heartbreakingly true.
October 12, 2022
Utrolig godt manus med spennende relasjoner og en historie man blir dratt inn i med en gang. Anbefales!
March 15, 2025
It was alright. I liked the second half better, when the story gets momentum.
July 10, 2021
Really loved this play. Felt incredibly honest and the relationships between the two characters were really interesting.
January 4, 2023
I was in this play! It was a good play! I read this play because I was contractually obligated to do so, but I enjoyed reading it! It was edited for time, and even with it edited for time it was long.
Light Falls is about a woman, Christine, who dies suddenly, and how her family copes with her sudden loss. The play happens over the course of a week and in multiple places in Manchester, England, focusing on Christine's children (Jess, Ashe, and Steven) and her husband. It's a three part play: the moment she dies, the moment everyone learns she dies, and the wake. A great ensemble piece, it's a really meaty play for those directors who like to stage people standing around talking, and great for those actors who love analysis (there are so many good monologues in here; thank you so much Simon).
It's almost cinematic in its staging: the way it jumps from place to place and character to character always made feel like quick cuts and whip pans. The language overlaps seamlessly - there are times when two characters in one place start a sentence that is ended by two different characters somewhere else in time. It's a great way to reinforce the theme and idea that no one is really alone; no one is really isolated. A story about grief and how people process and move through it, Light Falls is a great story about family, grappling with the past, and finding closure. Five stars because I got a sick accent in my special skills because of it.
Light Falls is about a woman, Christine, who dies suddenly, and how her family copes with her sudden loss. The play happens over the course of a week and in multiple places in Manchester, England, focusing on Christine's children (Jess, Ashe, and Steven) and her husband. It's a three part play: the moment she dies, the moment everyone learns she dies, and the wake. A great ensemble piece, it's a really meaty play for those directors who like to stage people standing around talking, and great for those actors who love analysis (there are so many good monologues in here; thank you so much Simon).
It's almost cinematic in its staging: the way it jumps from place to place and character to character always made feel like quick cuts and whip pans. The language overlaps seamlessly - there are times when two characters in one place start a sentence that is ended by two different characters somewhere else in time. It's a great way to reinforce the theme and idea that no one is really alone; no one is really isolated. A story about grief and how people process and move through it, Light Falls is a great story about family, grappling with the past, and finding closure. Five stars because I got a sick accent in my special skills because of it.
February 25, 2020
Love everything by Simon Stephens. A beautiful little play about grief, family and reconciliation. So moving. Give it a read.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews