'When The Rain Stops Falling' is a multi-layered narrative exploring ideas of self-fulfilled prophecies. It gains its quiet power from addressing betrayal, abandonment, destruction, forgiveness and love with hints of humour and humanity.
John Boyce, the show's director, is creating his own vision for the play that’ll leave audiences both entertained and challenged.
John discovered the show in the mid 2000s and has finally been able to direct a show that is powerful in its stillness. “I first heard about it when it was first released. There was a lot of talk about it. I became interested in it mid 2000s, I'd seen it done three or four times in different ways by different companies and I thought it was a great play."
"What drew me to the play was its stillness, and the quiet flow that it passes with. The emotions it deals with, the betrayal, abandonment, looking at how we treat each other and who we are really interested me. It's also highly narrative rather than highly physical. The story unfolds through narrative and without gimmicks; that really interested me."
John adores and trusts all the actors involved and vice versa, which he explains will greatly assist with the challenging play. "The play is most definitely a challenge. We are talking a lot about what the play means, and our own interpretations. The discussions lead to new ideas and fleshing things out. We don't want to follow the premise of how it has been done before; we want to do it in our own way."
As the play is multi-layered, spans over several generations and explores intense themes, getting confused could happen. John explains how the audiences will get walked through the play. “The play is difficult to read without the directions. The choices have to be very definite for the audience to understand. The length of time between things is highly important. It will help the audience to understand what period we are in, where we are, and what's going on. There is a good degree of self-fulfilled prophecies that characters in the past say, that then happen in the future, they almost haunt the characters and come true in the future. So, that in itself helps the audience follow the story."
John explains why this play is different and definitely one to see: "A lot of the other shows we put on engage with the audience on a group level, I like to call it multi-engagement. With this play, though, it will engage on a more individual level. The introspection of the play will engage with the audience if they are inclined to watch it. They won't be jumping up from their seats, cheering, laughing and being in this cauldron that is bubbling with excitement. Instead they’ll be challenged to think about things maybe they don't want to or confront things they do. They will be left with something different; I don't think any two people will leave with the exact same feeling. I'm looking forward to talking to people after they've seen it.”
