Henry Murray’s Tree Fall, now making its world premiere at Theatre Theater, is a dark vision of the future of mankind, forecasting the gradual extinction of the human race. It would not be accurate to call Tree Fall post-apocalyptic, simply because no apocalyptic event occurred to precipitate the collapse. Instead, geologically subtle changes have simply made human life unsustainable on the planet, evidenced by the fact that the sun’s rays have become increasingly intense, to the point where water sources have dried up, vegetation is dying and humans dare not expose their bare skin to the midday sun. The words “global warning” are never mentioned, but such is an inferrable suggestion. Beside the other physical threats to their survival, people living in wooded areas, like the protagonists here, also face the constant threat of being crushed by dying redwoods. The play’s title therefore has a double meaning, the literal one and the philosophical one: what if a race vanished off the face of the earth and the cosmos took no notice?

The group at the focus of Tree Fall is the biologically unrelated remnants of a patchwork family trying to make a home in a dilapidated cabin in the Pacific Northwest. The two older boys, August (West Liang) and Flynn (Brian Norris), try their best to raise and care for young Craig (Brian Pugach). Craig’s immature rantings and schizophrenic dialogues with his doll begin to grate on August, as well as, I must say, the audience. While their store of food grows short, their only source of water threatens to dry up, and nerves begin to fray, Flynn must act as the calming force, keeping the peace and maintaining the group ritual. A part of this ritual is the “prayer” sessions, consisting of nothing more than remembrances of better times and of the group’s departed mother figure, a quaint child-like notion of spirituality that either forecasts the inevitable course of religion or perhaps comments on the origins of new ones.

Tania Verafield plays Bug, a traveling urchin the family discovers in their storeroom who, to everyone’s surprise (except the audience’s), turns out to be a girl. It becomes evident that the family needs her more than she needs them. While she provides them with a glimpse of the world outside their mountaintop and is a source of wonderment and appeal to the burgeoning adolescents, her presence quickly threatens to upset the tenuous balance of the family dynamic.

Tree Fall is directed by John Perrin Flynn and produced by Flynn, David Combs and Matthew Elkins (no relation to this writer). Stephanie Kerley Schwartz’s set design immediately provides the atmosphere of backwoods survivalism. It makes maximum use of space and even includes a real pool, representing the family’s natural water spring.

However, there is not much else to recommend in Tree Fall. The characters, to the extent they are developed at all, are not compelling. Whether due to the script or the direction, there is no connection with the audience. I did not experience the characters’ joy, what little there was of it, and I did not find myself commiserating in their misery, hurt or fear. The only emotion I shared was annoyance with the antics of young Craig. The acting was adequate but did not come close to compensating for a lifeless script. In fact, Tree Fall succeeded in doing something remarkable: making me long for the extinction of mankind.

Tree Fall is performed Thursdays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 3 pm through September 6, 2009. It is being performed in weekly rep with Stop Kiss, being performed Fridays and Mondays at 8 pm and Sundays at 7 pm, through August 23.

Theatre Theater is located at 5041 W. Pico Blvd. (two blocks west of La Brea).

Ticket prices: $25.00 (Students: $20.00)

Reservations online at www.roguemachinetheatre.com or by phone at (323) 960-7774