Angels Fall

Angels Fall is a play written by Lanford Wilson. It debuted at New York's Circle Repertory Company in 1982. The play ran on Broadway in 1983 and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play.

Note: Niles and Vita were originally called Niles and Vita Heron but Wilson changed it when it was pointed out that "Vita Heron" sounded too much like "Vita Herring" a brand available at the time.

A nuclear accident has occurred in a remote section of New Mexico, and two couples who had been travelling through the area are forced to stop and seek shelter, while they await further word from the authorities. They find shelter at a small Catholic mission ministering to impoverished local Native Americans.

The first couple consists of a middle-aged professor and his attractive young wife. He is being taken to a sanitarium near Phoenix after a recent nervous breakdown. The professor has become disillusioned with academia, and now likes to rant that education itself is an evil.

The second couple are a wealthy middle-aged widow and her much younger lover, an aspiring tennis pro. Initially, he appears to be merely a toy to her, but it gradually becomes clear that she loves him deeply and is terrified of losing him.

While at the mission, the couples encounter Father Doherty, an elderly priest who runs the mission. Doherty relies heavily on his foster son, Don Tabaha, a young Native American. Doherty wants desperately for Tabaha to stay in New Mexico and continue to work at the mission, but Tabaha wants nothing more than to get away and leave the poverty of New Mexico far behind.

All characters' future plans are put on hold, while they wait to learn whether the nuclear accident can be resolved. If the problem is fixed, they must all make difficult decisions and move on with their lives. If not, they may all die there at the mission.

Angels Fall premiered Off-Broadway at the Circle Repertory Theatre on October 17, 1982 and closed on November 28, 1982. Directed by Marshall W. Mason, the cast featured Barnard Hughes as Father William Doherty and Fritz Weaver as Niles Harris. The role of Father Doherty was written for Barnard Hughes.

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