How A Boy Falls

[rating=5]If you are a mystery buff, you will want to see the World Premiere of “How A Boy Falls” now on the stage at Northlight Theatre. This is a 75 minute thriller written by Steven Dietz and directed to perfection by Halena Kays. The set is designed to be a wonderful home with a balcony overlooking  the water as well as a coffee shop, a park bench and more. Lizzie Bracken’s design is just perfect with the one exception. If you are sitting in the first row, viewing the balcony scenes can be a pain in the neck ( in reality, a strain of the neck).

The story is fairy simple, Chelle ( a delightful, yet mysterious Cassidy Slaughter-Mason) is hired to be a nanny for a young boy. The father, Paul ( deftly handled by Tim Decker) appears to be a man in love with being a father to his son. He is a prominent businessman who apparently no one says no to. The mother, Miranda is played to perfection by Michelle Duffy. They seem to be a very happy couple who are thrilled to have this little boy and try to keep him as safe as possible.

There are two other characters in the story. Mitch ( smoothly handled by Travis A. Knight) who eggs on Sam ( deftly handled by Sean Parris) as they meet in a coffee shop and agree that Chelle is a fabulously beautiful woman who just might change Sam’s life. They are coffee shop buddies. Time goes on and Chelle and her new “family” are bonding well. Chelle has moved in and is not just a nanny, but in fact an Au pair ( as defined by Paul) living a near perfect life.

We do find that she has some deep history as do other members of the story. Due to this being a mystery where things change from time to time, I cannot divulge more than to say that one afternoon, while Chelle is taking care of  her charge, he disappears. His special hat is in the water below, but there is no trace of him. He was on the balcony overlooking the water and it is assumed that he fell into the water and has floated away.

Of course, Chelle is the key suspect in this case as she was the one home alone with the boy. Perhaps though there is more to the story. Chelle is kept on by Paul who blackmails her to stay while his wife, Miranda has gone off to visit her sister. Later the pieces of the puzzle will fit much better and the picture becomes far clearer.

The relationship between Chelle and Sam grows as well. Chelle decides that she needs a hit man and thinks that Sam is her man. We know he is not, but he goes along with her plot to kill and then instead hurt Paul. He has hopes of one day becoming an investigative reporter so he uses this opportunity to explore the opportunity as well as to get closer to the girl. Mitch is also full of surprises, so from time to time we are not sure who he is and what he really does.

The play asks the question of “who can we trust” or perhaps even better “Is anyone trustworthy?”. The show is 75 minutes of taut and tight theater and great story-telling. Kays holds our interest and has us sitting on the edge of our seats. Rick Sims sound is terrific. Not a word is missed. The lighting by Jason Lynch and the costumes by Izumi Inaba perfect. I am one for the props person all the way and Jared Davis does a bang up job.

“How A Boy Falls” will amaze and astound you with its great ending ( that will not be what you expected) but will only be on the stage at Northight thru February 29th with performances as follows:

Tuesdays 7:30 p.m

Wednesdays  1 p.m. ( except 2/19) and 7:30 p.m.

Thursdays  7:30 p.m.

Fridays  8 p.m.

Saturdays 2:30 p.m.  and 8 p.m.

Sundays  2:30 and7 p.m. (2/23)

Tickets range from $30-$89 and can be purchased by calling 847-673-6300 or online at www.northlight.org

The theater is located at 9501 N. Skokie Blvd in Skokie ( at Golf) and there is plenty of free parking.

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “How A Boy Falls”.