On Stage

Actors Theatre's production of Next Fall deals with a complicated relationship between two men.

By Neil Cohen

Dean as Luke and Kolby Harper as Adam.

Love with Flaws

Next Fall explores relationship of a couple dealing with big issues

Can conservative Christianity and homosexuality co-exist peacefully? Can a devout man find love with an atheist?

Those are the issues that Adam and Luke face in playwright Geoffrey Naufft's touching Broadway hit Next Fall. Actors Theatre is staging the Arizona premiere of the play.

It's timely as the nation grapples with same-sex marriage and rights such as hospital visitation and spousal rights for partner care.

Chance Dean plays Luke, a handsome evangelical Christian with a lot of issues when it comes to his sexual orientation. He prays after sex and is not out to his parents, but he is happy in his faith.

Robert Kolby Harper is Adam, older and happily devoid of any religious beliefs.

Luke and Adam's five-year relationship is examined throughout Next Fall, which also takes place in a hospital waiting room.

As the show opens, Luke has been seriously injured and Adam is left to meet the parents (David Vining and Debra K. Stevens) who don't even know their son is gay. Adam has no rights to assist in Luke's care and has to stand by as the organ transplant guy is lurking around his lover.

Despite the tragic framework of the story, Harper and Dean said Next Fall has humor.

Chance Dean

Dean, who is based in Los Angeles, said he auditioned for the play because he fell in love with Next Fall when he saw it on Broadway.

"It's one of the rare plays where I identified with every single character on stage," Dean said. "When I see a play where I want to play all the characters, I know that I'm dealing with a show that's pretty powerful."

The California-born actor is different than his character, but he finds a lot of common ground. Luke is Southern-born, deeply religious and in the closet, while Dean is a non-practicing Catholic who just married Zoe Simpson, a British pop star and actress.

"I definitely understand where religion is the base of your thinking, growing up and being led through life with religious views," Dean said. However, he said he needed to educate himself about "The Rapture," one of the things that Luke is focused on.

"You do not have to have religion to have faith," Dean said, pointing out his views that differ from his character's beliefs. "I think that Luke's faith is very strong, but what he believes and what I believe are very different," he said.

Harper, who splits his time between acting and directing, said he has similarities to Luke. Raised by religious parents in a small town in Georgia, Harper said that it was hard growing up gay and closeted, and that he never did have the opportunity to come out to his parents before they died.

Harper said he also understands his character, Adam. "His humor is very much like mine," Harper said. "He calls a spade a spade. The biggest difference is his resistance to understand where faith comes into the equation. He wants proof. I'm very faith-based, but not in a Christian sense — in more of a metaphysical sense."

Harper said he shares his character's displeasure with how Luke has to pray away the sin after sex. "It works for Luke, it does not work for Adam, because he's like ‘Why the hell do you have to pray after sex?'

"It would make me feel horrible if someone had to get down on their knees and pray after sex. I pray before sex. I hope that it's good or that it lasts longer than five seconds," he joked. "But never after sex."

If Adam and Luke are so different, how have they lasted five years? "Luke has a line about how Adam mentioned his soul the first night they met," Dean explained. "He saw the possibility for them to connect on that level at some point in the future."

"I love that the play shows two people with flaws who are gay choosing to love each other even though those flaws exist," Harper said. "They choose to stay and deal with the flaws, and I love that. Because we don't have a lot of plays like that in the gay community," he said.

The play is directed by Matthew Wiender. Andi Watson is also in the cast. -E

VITAL STATISTICS

Next Fall
Actors Theatre of Phoenix
Oct. 28-Nov. 13
Herberger Stage West
222 E. Monroe St., Phoenix
Tickets: $31-$47
602-252-8497; www.actorstheatrephx.org