(OUTscene AMERICA) MK Examines the LA and Seattle Premieres of Geoffrey Nauffts’“Next Fall"!

Adam (Zinovitch) waits for Luke (Traylor) to Finish Praying!

by MK Scott

This Past weekend was my last chance to see the Seattle Premiere of Geoffrey Nauffts’“Next Fall"
which was playing at ArtsWest Theater in West Seattle.

By coming to see it just to compare seeing an All-Star Cast at the LA Premiere in November 2011.

Geoffrey Nauffts’ drama about a gay couple with stark religious differences — one’s a fundamentalist Christian, the other’s a sarcastic agnostic — proceeds with the somber discretion of someone walking into church after the sermon has begun. The play has many humorous moments, particularly when urban wisecracks are pitted against redneck ripostes. But an autumnal light bathes even the comic aspects of the work, toning down the banter and subduing the punch lines.

The LA Production was an ALL-Star Cast with the Playwright, Geoffrey Nauffts as Adam; James (Political Animals) Wolk as Luke; Jeff Fahey as Butch amd the FABULOUS, Lesley Ann Warren as Arlene.

Moving Forward to the 2013 Seattle Producion with Artswest's Artistic Director, Christopher Zinovitch as Adam; David Elwyn Traylor as Luke; John Wray as Butch and Pamela Haines-Ainsworth as Arlene.

Like with the 2010 Broadway and the 2011 LA Production, the Seattle Production were all directed by women. That shouldn't make a difference, but the Seattle Case, the Romance  looked genuine and it carried the same issues with the amount of sensitivity.

Adam (Zinovitch), a neurotic New Yorker who falls in love with Luke (Traylor), a sweet, openhearted younger man who silently says grace before every meal (and after Sex) and believes his sexuality is a sin.

When Nauffts played Adam, he did it in a very Preachy, agressive kind a way. With Zinovitch's Adam, you see the insecurities of being a older man in a relationship with a younger man, as well as being a non-believer and feeling threatened by Jesus being the 3rd man in the relationship.

Luke wants to wait to come out his God-fearing and sin-loving, Red Neck Parents played by Wray and Ainsworth.

The Parents were supposed to be from Florida, but with Wray as Butch, I didn't see that. Ainsworth was believable as Trailer Trash, Drug addicted, Couch Potato, Arlene (Not  as Great as Lesley Ann Warren), Fahey as Butch, gave it more as the Red Neck Father.

I really enjoyed Daniel Stoltenberg's Portrayal of Luke's fellow Gay Christian, Brandon. I could see he was torn about his love for the Bible and his love for Black Men.

The nub of the drama calls to mind AIDS plays from a generation ago: Butch, who refuses to see that his semi-closeted son is gay, doesn’t recognize Adam’s place in Luke’s life. Only “family” is admitted into the room where he is hooked up to machines, and for Butch, Adam hardly qualifies.

Based on the Magazines on the table, I assume this is the Hospital.

My only major gripe with the Seattle Production was the set. The Sofa, coffee table and 3 chairs that was used as the Hospital Waiting room and Adam and Luke's Apartment. I would have preferred to see the waiting room chair rolled to the side during non-hospital scenes.

Overall, Zinovitch excelled with the material and the rest of the cast was able to get through the akward themes.