Ryan Bowron, Rick Grant, Tristan Pianovski, Bill Keeton, and Samantha Joy Weil Photo by Claudia Herschner

One by one, three more characters enter and take a seat. Aaron (Ryan Bowron) is an addict who recovered to become a drug counselor after a life of difficult dependency. Nate (Tristan Pianovski) is a nervous, withdrawn high school dropout now working as a construction worker. And James (Bill Keeton) is a retired, workaholic emergency room physician, initially very guarded with his answers. Eden and Lucas ask probing, non-judgmental questions of each man to draw out the details of his life. The focus is on choices they've made and their consequences. Without being harsh, the interrogations increasingly reveal interconnections and troublesome details.

As the focus shifts from one man to another, Weil and Grant step out of their interviewer roles to briefly inhabit people remembered from each life. There's a bully who mistreated Aaron in a foster home, an abusive father who constantly berated Nate, and James's hardworking wife and their picture-perfect teenaged daughter. Their stories slowly intertwine in Vogel's carefully written script.

The play's two acts, each about 45 minutes, have an intermission that bridges the gap between "During" and "After," as Vogel's title terms the course of action. The first act has laid out each man's circumstances and decisions. In the second act, we learn the repercussions and devastating consequences of their actions. Eden and Lucas's questioning continues, and we learn more about why these men have been brought together and come to understand what their interviews will lead them toward.

Director Ed Cohen put this production together on relatively short notice. During/After was not initially part of Falcon's 2024-2025 season, so it was sandwiched in between two previously scheduled shows. Cohen, who has often staged shows for Falcon, was recruited for this assignment, allowing just a few weeks of rehearsal. But his cast have responded with strong performances. Weil and Grant are called upon to detail their roles as interrogators, as well as to convincingly play the varied characters from the lives of Aaron, Nate and James. There is never a problem discerning who they are personifying.

As Aaron, Bowron paints a picture of a life scarred by trauma, from hostile foster care to prison, in a convincing demonstration of a man struggling to make something of himself but lacking the persistence for ultimate achievement. Pianovski's embodiment of Nate is most affecting, a teen lacking in self-confidence, badgered and bullied by his abusive father and ignored by classmates at school. To demonstrate Nate's desperation, Pianovski is often doubled over on his chair or hugging his knees in an almost fetal position. As James, Keeton comes across as a hard-working, caring man whose sense of duty to medical care keeps him distant from his family. At first he seems aloof and stuffy, but increasingly his tightly held guard is dropped to allow desperate grief to surface.

This is not an easy set of tales to watch. Anyone troubled by suicide, violence, and/or abusive behavior should think twice about attending. Nevertheless, it's a fascinatingly told story of the actions people choose and the unwitting outcomes that can result. During/After is very watchable with several unexpected twists and turns. It wraps up with a few whiffs of possibility, but it's been a tough path to get there, and what comes is left is very open ended.

Kudos to Falcon for making room in its season for this serious work, as well as to Cohen and his cast for creating compelling performances. Vogel lives in Cincinnati and has written novels, short stories, brief plays, and one other full-length drama. She is a writer to watch.

During/After runs through April 12, 2025, at Falcon Theatre, 636 Monmouth St., Newport KY. For tickets and information, please visit falcontheater.net or call 513-479-6783.