Burning Leaves
Should a teacher serve as an inspiration for a student’s life outside the classroom? Or are there boundaries?
TOSOS (The Other Side of Silence) NYC’s oldest and longest continuously producing LGBTQIA+ theater company, continues to honor its mission with its latest show, Burning Leaves, by Tom Rowan. The production combines humor, honesty, and compassion to tell the serious story of a teacher and a sixteen-year-old student who needs a gay role model and connection to help him come out.
The affecting play is set in 2007, at a small high school in Pittsville, IL, where gay representation and acceptance are notably lacking. It follows the story of Matt Leland (Brady Dalton Richards), a gay actor who left NYC in search of a new start as a “drama” – or, as he prefers to call it, a “theater” – teacher. He rents a room in the house of the school’s divorced guidance counsellor, Jane Potter (Annemarie Rosano), where she lives with her self-possessed daughter Hallie (Sophie Tananbaum), one of Matt’s students.
Hallie’s classmates include the self-obsessed Alicia (Becky Rusch); she’s pushing for Evita to be that year’s chosen work and is determined to play the lead in the school playbefore she graduates. Then there’s Jesse (Campbell Idol), a troubled and closeted youth who lost his mother, survived a suicide attempt, and is abused by his beer-guzzling, homophobic father Carl (Jonathan Stewart). Jesse finds self-expression, comfort, and the hope for more with Matt, who recognizes his outstanding talent and encourages him to pursue a career in acting.
Interwoven through Burning Leaves is the subplot of a proposed nuclear power plant in the struggling town, which would provide much-needed jobs but would also endanger the environment and the residents with the toxins it releases. The project triggers local protests, which Hallie adamantly supports, and becomes the subject of the school play. Mr. Leland has his class conducting interviews with the divided locals, then creating, writing, directing, and performing the show, in keeping with his preference for teaching all aspects of theater. Alicia, unhappy about the play and her minimal part in it, makes false accusations against Matt.
Under the emotive direction of Graydon Gund, the excellent cast of six embraces distinctive and clashing personalities and their motivations.
Richards embodies a full range of profoundly felt emotions as Matt, from his initial nervousness and awkwardness in his new role as teacher (frequently and unwittingly using expletives), to his generosity and helpfulness as Jane’s boarder. Richards beautifully expresses his appreciation for Hallie and Jesse as he guides their growing skills and enthusiasm, the panic he experiences while swerving his car to avoid hitting a deer, and the pain in his private revelation to Jesse of the devastating reason why he left New York.
In his sensitive portrayal of Jesse, Idol manifests his development from severely distressed and introverted to being able to express himself and who he is. He has blossomed, with his introduction to and identification with theater, Shakespeare, and Matt, and his teacher’s impactful advice that “too personal means you’re doing it right.” Together they bring depth and sincerity to their true, but ethically conflicted, bond, and support one another without hesitation or fear of biased ramifications.
Rosano turns in an incisive portrayal of Jane, capturing her appreciation of Matt’s assistance with the yard work (raking and burning the metaphorical fallen leaves), her initial attraction to him, and her flirtatious invitation to a date (thwarted by him telling her that he’s gay). Yet, after Matt comes out to her, she makes insensitive, prejudiced comments, and ultimately, she takes Alicia’s accusations to the next level at school.
As Hallie, Tananbaum is actively progressive and determined, recognizing her own keen ability to write, taking charge of the school play, and standing by Jesse and Matt, despite the attitude and actions of her mother and Rusch’s angry, vengeful Alicia. Stewart, as the rough and disapproving Carl, an unemployed construction worker and the polar opposite of his gentle son, rounds out the consistently committed cast.
The moving performances take place on a simple platform stage, minimally furnished with a wooden desk and three chairs that serve as the schoolroom and offices, the Potter house, and Matt’s car (scenic design by Evan Frank), with projections on a wide stretch of fabric above, which further identify the places, situations, and dramatic lines delivered by the student actors (such as the suicidal Jesse’s profoundly felt “To Be or Not To Be” soliloquy from Hamlet). They are enhanced with props (Reesa Graham), among them the telling pocketknife Jesse carries with him, shifts in lighting (David Castaneda) and sound (Morry Campbell) that accentuate the moods, times of day, and locales, and costumes (Ricky Lurie and Q Le) that suit the characters and their post-modern era.
As with all of TOSOS’ productions, Burning Leaves is an expressive, thought-provoking, and important work that engenders our empathy for the central characters and questions the situations in which they should never have been placed, simply for being themselves and finding someone who understands and cares. It will touch your heart, draw your tears, and leave you hoping for their future happiness in a more accepting world.
Burning Leaves
At A.R.T./New York Theatres
502 West 53rd St., 3rd floor
Running time: 2 hours, 25 minutes, one intermission
Through October 17, 2026
