Photo, T. Charles Erickson Will Rogers and Mary Beth Hurt in "When the Rain Stops Falling."

By John Soltes / Editor in Chief

NEW YORK (March 17, 2010) — The interconnectedness of our collective lives is brought to brilliant realization in "When the Rain Stops Falling," the theater season's strongest new play and one that will haunt audience members for days, if not weeks, if not forever. Played out in the tiny, yet resourceful, Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre at Lincoln Center, this Andrew Bovell-penned drama charts the complicated complications of one extended family through several generations. It's a piece that serves as a rediscovery of the past and even a warning of the future (the timeline of the play stretches from 1959 to 2039). Every part is theatrical perfection — a beautiful grouping of snappy language, precise directing and stellar acting.

But just because it works, doesn't mean it's easy to grasp. This one takes a sizable effort from the audience. But definitely step up to the challenge.

There's a family tree in the program notes for a reason: "Rain" immerses itself in a web of varying relationships with characters entering and exiting not just different places but different times as well. It can be an ordeal to keep track of how all the characters are related, but Bovell holds the audience's hand and walks them through the bustle. By the play's end, you know exactly everyone's history and perhaps even their future.

It doesn't hurt that Bovell has David Cromer, who is quickly becoming the most sought-after director in New York, at the helm. His style of presenting this 100-minute play is reminiscent of "Festen" by David Eldridge, with characters from different settings sharing the same space, even eating at the same table, even though the proceedings are decades apart. Cromer can add this to his growing list of New York accomplishments ("Our Town," "Adding Machine" and "Brighton Beach Memoirs").

Set largely in London and the southern coast of Australia known as the Coorong, "Rain" follows Gabriel Law (Will Rogers) on his search for the father who left him when he was only a child. Gabriel's mother, Elizabeth Perry (Mary Beth Hurt), is an alcoholic in denial who refuses to go into too much detail of who or where Gabriel's father is.

Why is Elizabeth refusing to divulge the details of her ex-husband and the father of her son?

"Rain" includes the answer by displaying the disintegration of Elizabeth's marriage almost at the same time that we meet her son. Two story lines, similar characters (including an older and younger Elizabeth) played out side by side. It's not as difficult to follow as it may seem.

Then, there's Gabrielle York who meets Gabriel on the road when he's searching for his father. The two find an acceptable comfort in one another and begin to see their futures conjoining. Just as we see the past and present of Gabriel's mother, we view the younger Gabrielle (Susan Pourfar), who is trying to escape her Australian surroundings, and the older Gabrielle (Victoria Clark), who is dealing with a marriage she knows is not working.

All in all, there are roughly four stories occurring simultaneously. It would be confusing, but the presentation is as important as the plot. Cromer has the sets rotate around two axles, so scenes take on an added visual element. The older Elizabeth could be sipping a glass of wine at one table, while her younger self is fighting with her ex-husband a few feet away. The two stories are brought into harmony with these spinning sets.

Throughout all of the plot elements, it seems to be raining — a common atmospheric setting for plays, movies and novels. What makes this rain reign is that it fits perfectly into the tale that Bovell is telling. In the 2039 sequence (I'd explain who it involves, but it would confuse you even more), the rains are so bad that fish — a rare commodity on this future Earth — sometimes fall out of the sky.

In some ways, "When the Rain Stops Falling" could work better as a novel. But then you would lose the harmony of live performance. One chapter would center on this ordeal, while the next chapter could skip ahead or backward and focus on another branch of this wayward family tree. By caputring Gabriel and his extended family in a theatrical setting, all can happen at once in an assaulting, visual manner.

Bovell is a masterful writer, but he still should thank Cromer for gluing this together. Much appreciation can also be bestowed on the hard-working cast. Hurt keeps her emotions pointed inward, but once her story is revealed, we realize her characterization is fitting. She is a woman who has become an unwilling protector of the past. Clark has a nice touch of grounding the older Gabrielle — she does this by essentially dismantling her piece by piece. She is a woman who can't or won't shake her past, and thus her present is doomed and her future is in question.

Rogers holds the play together as its main pivot point. His Gabriel is a young idealist, willing to stop at no cost to find some semblance of his father. Little does he know that his search is far more personal that he could ever imagine.

The ceiling of the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre sports a bloated tarp that seems just about ready to fall on the heads of the audience. It seems to be holding back a flood that could prove fatal, yet somehow after watching "When the Rain Stops Falling," the rain and its consequential blurring of the lines could be freeing.

"When the Rain Stops Falling" is currently playing the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre at Lincoln Center. Visit www.lct.org for more information.