Audiences interested in a psychological thriller get their fill of on-stage suspense with Theatre Knoxville Downtown’s production of How A Boy Falls. Director Windie Wilson’s take on Steven Dietz’s 2023 play will have you sitting on the edge of your seat and feeling a mix of fear, disgust, hope, and anticipation. The story of the unfortunate tragedy of missing 4-year old boy Alex that upends the lives of his parents, Paul and Miranda, and his recently-hired live-in nanny Chelle, How A Boy Falls is filled with secrets as the hidden lives of each character unfurls onstage.
Chelle, played by Kelby Cox, is new to town and desperate for a job; Cox is excellent at transporting audiences across the shifts in time throughout this play, as well as the shifts in emotion. Flashbacks and flashforwards from before and after the tragedy of Alex’s disappearance means Cox and others must keep up with the rapidly-shifting emotional tones of contrasting scenes, and she is adroit and agile in these shifts. They’re subtle too, from shaking her leg while sitting at a table to a small, celebratory gesture at landing work for Paul and Miranda, Cox’s performance keeps us on our toes. Paul, played by David Snow, also gives an emotionally powerful performance, from Paul’s grieving the loss of his son Alex to the slow reveal of his own personal evils; one confrontation with Chelle in the middle of the play is outright bone-chilling. Miranda is also a tormented character, and Jennifer Pagnard is superb in hiding Miranda’s pain beneath a stoic and at times cutting attitude. And unwillingly caught up in it all—or so it seems—are Sam and Mitch (Anthony DiFelice and Ty Shrum) who, through a fortuitous meeting at a coffee shop, work to untangle the lies and secrets that led up to Alex’s disappearance. DiFelice brings a charm and humor to all his roles, and Sam is no exception as the one character who seems to not have any dirty laundry or secret past, while Shrum’s Bostonian Mitch keeps it cool to harbor his own—and others’—secrets.
The set design for How A Boy Falls is of note. Three separate sets are on stage at once—a coffee bar where Sam, Mitch, and Chelle meet on stage left; a series of restaurants that serve as meeting places for several characters on stage right; and finally Paul and Miranda’s coastal California home takes center stage, a place Miranda describes as “a house above the world.” The set is dominated by a huge, open door leading out onto a balcony that looks over the ocean where Alex’s accident is suggested to have taken place. Scene changes are signaled through blocking and lighting changes, spotlighting each area of the stage as needed. It works wonderfully, for even in the dark, that ominous balcony still looms large. Props to TKD for the design and construction of this set piece that lends as much suspense to the production as the action does.
How A Boy Falls runs until May 4 with showings on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30pm and matinees on Sundays at 3pm. Tickets are available at their box office, located at 800 South Central Street, or online at https://theatreknoxville.com/how-a-boy-falls/.
