I saw The Fall on March 24, as young people around America participated in the March for Our Lives. It also resonated with the protests on the Columbia University campus 60 years ago. I was a little apprehensive--would this be a simplistic look at student protest? Delving into the specifics values and priorities that brought students together and forced them apart, which another commenter found so tedious, was absolutely necessary to achieving the nuanced view the play ultimately presents, showing both the elation of making your voice heard and the heaviness of the burden it can impose.
Much as I sympathized with the politics of the play, I can't agree that this is good theater. The play is concerned almost exclusively with the tactics and internal politics of the student protesters, and consists mostly of shouted slogans and repetitive polemical speeches. We learn little about the lives of the students or the specifics of their protests (which include the Rhodes statue, the curriculum, the faculty, the patriarchy, gender discrimination and tuition costs, many of which are just superficially adverted to). Long stretches of the play are nothing more than tedious student strategy sessions, consisting of conflicting speeches rather than dialogue. Kudos to St. Ann's for bringing a new voice to their theater; if only it was a better drama.
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I enjoyed this show immensely. I was moved, entertained, and educated by its very talented cast, authors and production team. It made me privy to a world I would normally never have an opportunity to know, and that's one of the main reasons I love theater.
Thank you Baxter Theater Center for creating such a wonderfully complex work, and kudos to St. Ann's Warehouse for bringing it to Brooklyn. St. Ann's consistently brings exceptional productions to NYC. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
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UCT was founded by Rhodes and has been a pivotal institution in the fight for democracy in South Africa.
Tearing the statue down does no service to the good the University has done. in so many different fields- all based on the philosophical principles of Rhodes and what he stood for.
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