Review: FALLING DOWN THE MOUNTAIN at Broad Theatre

I wanted to like Falling Down the Mountain of Great Storms. Broad Theatre is a company whose commitment to creating space for artists and stories across genders and cultural backgrounds speaks to much of what I value in theatre. While the play didn't work for me, I connected with its intent and the story it is trying to tell.

Written by Greg Romero, Falling Down the Mountain of Great Storms centers on Audra, a young Cajun woman trying to move forward after a sexual assault. Her journey unfolds through fragmented moments in time, her estranged mother Lanette, her friend Barry, and a surreal world inhabited by animals. The play uses the Louisiana landscape, hurricanes, movement, sound, and symbolism to explore trauma, survival, and renewal.

The animals are an important part of that symbolism. The Great Blue Heron represents survival, Hedgehog carries a broken branch and the weight of what has been damaged, while Fox points toward healing and renewal by planting seeds for the future. That wasn't how I read them while watching the play. I saw the birds as Audra and her mother in their estranged relationship, looking for a way to connect with each other. Hedgehog, for me, represented the men who had hurt Audra, while Fox came closest to its intended meaning: a fresh start and the possibility of moving forward.

I liked the meaning I had found in the animals, which made discovering their intended symbolism afterward a little disappointing. I prefer to go into the theatre knowing as little as possible, like a blank canvas waiting for the story to paint the picture. There is room for interpretation, but symbolism still needs to lead us deeper into the story. Here, it too often pulled my attention away from Audra and what had happened to her. When symbolism overshadows the heart of the story, it can become noise.

The many plot threads added to that feeling and gave me a kind of mental whiplash. The animals, the setting, the conference at the beginning, and other storylines pull our attention in different directions but don't always lead somewhere meaningful. Some distracted me from Audra and left me wondering why they had been introduced in the first place.

That is unfortunate because Audra's story matters. A young woman living with the aftermath of sexual assault, what that trauma does to her and the people around her, and how she begins to find a way forward is a story worth telling. I like what Romero is reaching for and its message of survival and renewal. I just wish I had been able to feel more of it through Audra rather than having to search for it among so many layers.

My reaction to Romero's play is separate from Broad Theatre's production. Director Molly Fonseca and the cast take on challenging material that moves between realism, magical realism, movement, sound, and symbolism, all within the intimate space at The Rosette.

Ariane Stier leads the company as Audra, with Xander Austin as Barry, Suzanne Balling as Lanette, Jude Jecker as Fox, Delan Crawford as Hedgehog, Lisa Kobdish as Heron, and Samantha Plumb as Heron Chick. The cast commits to Romero's unusual world with class, skill, and heart, and it shows.

Animal Movement Coordinators Kelly Hasandras and Olivia O'Hare give each creature a distinct physical language, while Jenny Rosario's fabulous animal costumes complete the transformation without losing the actors underneath. The movement and costumes work beautifully together.

This is the world premiere of Falling Down the Mountain of Great Storms, but for me, it still feels like a play in development. There is a powerful story at its heart and an important message behind it, but the symbolism and competing threads too often obscure rather than strengthen them.

I respect Broad Theatre for taking a chance on unconventional new work and giving space to artists and voices we don't always get to see. I want to see more of that in Austin. Falling Down the Mountain of Great Storms may not have worked for me as a play, but the story it wants to tell, and the company committed to telling it, have value.

Falling Down the Mountain of Great Storms
Written by Greg Romero
Directed by Molly Fonseca

Now playing through August 29, 2026
Thursdays-Saturdays at 8:00 p.m.

Broad Theatre at The Rosette Theatre
3908 Avenue B | Hyde Park | Austin, TX, 78751

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