Review: THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN at OnStage Playhouse

Sometimes you’re a sweet little old lady, and other times you’re a fighter armed with a Molotov cocktail and a lighter. And sometimes, you are both. That delightful contradiction sits at the center of "The Velocity of Autumn" at OnStage Playhouse, a funny, heartwarming, and quietly heartbreaking production directed by Daren Scott that explores aging, identity, and the fear of losing the hard-earned version of yourself you spent a lifetime becoming.

The play centers on Alexandra (Linda Benning), a fiercely independent 79-year-old artist barricaded inside her Brooklyn apartment. Her children, Michael and Jen, have decided that she can no longer safely live alone, but Alexandra has no intention of quietly surrendering her home or her sense of self. Armed with homemade Molotov cocktails hidden throughout the apartment, she prepares for battle against both her family and the police waiting outside. Enter Chris (James P. Darvas), her estranged son, who climbs through her window hoping to talk some sense into his mother before the situation explodes both emotionally and literally.

What follows is essentially an 80-minute conversation and confession between mother and son, filled with banter, old wounds, and surprising tenderness. The script sometimes leans heavily on its theatrical conceit, shifting between sitcom-style one-liners and deeply emotional confessions. Yet the production works because the performers commit fully to the emotions underneath the comedy.

Directed by Daren Scott, the play has a nice pace, keeping everything moving without feeling rushed or letting the momentum drop during emotional beats. Benning delivers a lovely performance as Alexandra. The role carries the overwhelming majority of the dialogue, and she handles it with remarkable ease, balancing comedic timing with vulnerability. One moment, she is tossing out delightfully dark jokes — threatening to set herself on fire only for Chris to quip, “I’ll bring the marshmallows” — and the next she is quietly confronting the terrifying reality that her body and memory are beginning to fail her. Benning never allows Alexandra to become merely eccentric or fragile. She remains sharp, proud, and funny throughout.

Opposite her, Darvas gives Chris a worn-down warmth that complements Alexandra’s fiery stubbornness. Where Alexandra is determined to rage against the dying of the light, Chris feels weighed down by regret, exhaustion, and unresolved guilt. Darvas provides the grounded emotional counterbalance to Benning’s Alexandra. Their chemistry feels lived-in, messy, and authentic, particularly during quieter moments when years of resentment briefly give way to shared memories.

One especially lovely sequence involves Alexandra reminiscing about running through the Guggenheim Museum with a young Christopher. The image of mother and son racing along the museum’s spiraling ramps evokes a beautiful image and metaphor — both characters constantly looking backward and forward at the same time, revisiting memories while trying desperately to understand where they are now.

Technically, the production is equally warm. Patrick Mason’s detailed set design creates a Brooklyn apartment that feels fully inhabited, eclectic, and emotionally layered. Meanwhile, the lighting design by Ginger Chody, sound design by Jaden Guerrero, and costume design by Brad Dubois work together beautifully to reflect Alexandra’s mental state: still vibrant and intelligent, but slowly losing pieces of herself. Like the faint outlines on the apartment walls where paintings once hung, traces of who she used to be linger everywhere.

At its core, “The Velocity of Autumn” is about parenthood, memory, and the fragile balancing act between independence and care. It reminds us that growing older does not erase the person underneath. In its best moments, this production captures something deeply true: sometimes parent and child can briefly meet in a space beyond resentment or obligation, where memory, art, and love coexist timelessly.

How To Get Tickets

 “The Velocity of Autumn” is playing at OnStage Playhouse through May 24th, 2026 Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8PM; Sundays at 5PM.

Tickets are available at onstageplayhouse.org or at the door. Prices start from $25 with discounts available for students, seniors, educators, and guests under 30.  

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