FALLS
A play by Colm Summers
A coming-of-age comedy about caregiving.
ABOUT
When a young father is diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, he does everything he can to protect his relationship with his son.
As his condition progresses, their roles begin to reverse. The father’s expectations of what it means to provide, protect and parent start to fall away; his son, meanwhile, has to grow into a kind of care neither of them expected him to give.
Set in rural Ireland, Falls is a play about fatherhood, queerness, care and forgiveness.
THE PLAY
Characters: 2
Setting: Rural Ireland, Blackwater Valley
Running time: Approximately 80 minutes
DEVELOPMENT
Arts Council of Ireland · 2023
Falls was the project for which I received the Arts Council of Ireland’s Next Generation Artist Award in 2023.
The Next Generation Artist Award supports a small group of artists at a formative stage in their practice, giving them time, resources and mentorship to develop ambitious new work. I received the award in 2023 to write Falls, with the playwright Marina Carr as my mentor.
That relationship was particularly important to the development of Falls: an Irish family play concerned with inheritance, parents and children, the violence and tenderness contained inside family structures, and the ways the past continues to live inside the present.
The Next Generation Award became the foundation for the subsequent development of the play in Ireland and the United States.
Marina Carr is one of Ireland’s leading contemporary playwrights. Her plays include By the Bog of Cats, The Mai, Portia Coughlan, Woman and Scarecrow and Girl on an Altar, and her work has been produced by the Abbey Theatre, the Royal Court, the National Theatre and internationally.
FEATURED AT
2026 Phoenix Theater Festival of New American Plays Winner
2025 New York Stage and Film, Philadelphia
2024 Relentless Award Honorable Mention
2024 New York Stage and Film, New York
2024 Drama League Next Stage Fellowship
2023 The Cell Artist in Resident, New York
2023 Next Generation Artist Award — Arts Council of Ireland
THE CELL
2023
NEXT GENERATION ARTIST AWARD
Arts Council of Ireland
Falls selected as my Next Generation project
Mentorship with Marina Carr
2023–24
IRELAND DEVELOPMENT
Fishamble
Arts Council of Ireland
Garter Lane Arts Centre
MAY 2024
ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE WORKSHOP
The Cell Theatre, New York
2024
NEXT STAGE FELLOW
The Drama League
Falls
2024
RELENTLESS AWARD
Honorable Mention
American Playwriting Foundation
JUNE 2025
SCÉAL NUA
Origin Theatre Company / Irish Arts Center
New York
OCTOBER 2025
NEW YORK STAGE AND FILM
Penn Live Arts
Directed by Michael Wilson
Featuring Frank Wood and Sebastian Beacon
JANUARY 2026
RICHARD P. STAHL FESTIVAL OF NEW AMERICAN THEATRE
Phoenix Theatre Company
Directed by Ron May
Mentor: Marina Carr
IRELAND DEVELOPMENT
FISHAMBLE / ARTS COUNCIL OF IRELAND / GARTER LANE
The early development of Falls was supported in Ireland by Fishamble: The New Play Company, the Arts Council of Ireland and Garter Lane Arts Centre in Waterford. (Theaterlab)
Garter Lane was especially meaningful as a development home: the play is by a Waterford writer and many of my plays are set there, so starting there for such an intimate play felt like setting out from home, its A Little Room artist-development program. (Garter Lane)
AWARDS + DEVELOPMENT
ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE WORKSHOP
The Cell Theatre · New York
May 17–19, 2024
Written and directed by Colm Summers.
The Cell selected Falls for a developmental residency and workshop in New York.
The Cell described it as:
“not-your-mother’s Parkinson’s play.” (the cell)
That was fun.
THE DRAMA LEAGUE
NEXT STAGE FELLOWSHIP
The Drama League · 2024
I was selected for the Drama League’s 2024 Next Stage Residency with Falls.
The Drama League described Falls as:
“a profound play, which examines father + son relationships through the lens of health, love and (at times) the lack of both.” (The Drama League)
The Next Stage residency also brought Falls into New York Stage and Film’s 2024 season, where the Drama League was one of the organizations in residence.
RELENTLESS AWARD
2024 HONORABLE MENTION
Falls received a 2024 Relentless Award Honorable Mention from the American Playwriting Foundation.
The Relentless Award is the American Playwriting Foundation’s annual award for new American plays.
The Foundation’s official 2024 record lists Falls among that year’s Honorable Mentions. (APF)
SCÉAL NUA
IRISH ARTS CENTER / ORIGIN THEATRE COMPANY
Irish Arts Center · New York
June 16, 2025
Falls was selected for the inaugural Scéal Nua Play Readings, presented by Origin Theatre Company at Irish Arts Center.
The festival brought together new work by Irish and Irish-diaspora playwrights.
NEW YORK STAGE AND FILM
FALL SEASON PLAY READINGS
New York Stage and Film + Penn Live Arts
University of Pennsylvania · Philadelphia
October 2 & 4, 2025
Written by Colm Summers
Directed by Michael Wilson
Following the earlier Drama League development, Falls was selected by New York Stage and Film for two public readings at Penn Live Arts.
Director Michael Wilson led the presentation.
CAST
DAD
Frank Wood
SON
Sebastian Beacon
Stage Manager
Campbell Anidjar
Stage Directions
Pradanya Subramanyan
The October 4 performance was followed by a conversation with Colm Summers and Michael Wilson, moderated by Brooke O’Hara of the University of Pennsylvania. (Penn Live Arts)
PHOENIX THEATRE
COMPANY
28TH ANNUAL RICHARD P. STAHL FESTIVAL OF NEW AMERICAN THEATRE
Phoenix Theatre Company · Phoenix, Arizona
January 2026
Falls was selected for the Phoenix Theatre Company’s 28th Annual Richard P. Stahl Festival of New American Theatre.
Directed by Ron May
Phoenix described the play as:
The festival presented Falls as its opening, and only new play of the festival in January 2026. (The Phoenix Theatre Company)
THE PARKINSON’S FOUNDATION
The project has an ongoing community engagement partnership with The Parkinson’s Foundation, facilitated by Sabela Avion.
The Parkinson’s Foundation is a national nonprofit organization working to improve care and quality of life for people with Parkinson’s disease while advancing research toward a cure. The Foundation provides education, resources and community support for people with Parkinson’s, their families and care partners.