Brian Anderson Photo by Claudia Herschner

Despite this rocky, anxious start, they quickly fall into a warm relationship while learning more about one another. It proves to be a source of unexpected happiness for Terry. But Cassie (Angela Alexander Nalley), his domineering sister-in-law takes a dim view of Terry and Justin's fling, seeing it as an unfortunate distraction. She is steadfastly focused on the arrangements for an exhibition of Jeffrey's photos, but despite her constant badgering, Terry has failed to step up to make this happen.

Terry abandoned his early aspirations to be a novelist after his first book received a dismissive review from The New York Times. Instead, he supported Jeffrey's increasingly successful career in the art world while being relegated to a background role. Take-charge Cassie handled all the tasks of promoting Jeffrey's gallery shows. His accidental death ended a successful artistic career. Terry has been overwhelmed with grief, so his fling with Justin offers a possible path forward.

Mr. Parker skims across an array of contemporary issues, from gay hookups, ghosting and technophobia to gender pronouns, bullying and ageism. They are all factors in the men's uncertain relationship rooted in their age differential.

McKeever's 2022 script digs beneath the surface of a series of events as each character must face issues of "legacy," a word that echoes across the 90 minutes of action (no intermission). Cassie is zealous to build her own future on Jeffrey's success, which she has moderated for years; in fact, her marriage has seemingly been rather empty: She mentions that her husband has speculated as to why they never had children. Justin is not living up to his father's expectations, although the young man is a bottomless source of New York City trivia he learned from his father, a history professor.

Terry's existence is more a case of legacy deferred. After his first novel's failure 30 years earlier, he devoted himself to supporting Jeffrey's rising-star career. Jeffrey's death left Terry paralyzed by guilt–he was the driver in the accident and the one to sign the form to approve the cessation of life support–and flummoxed by a world that had moved on technologically and interpersonally without him. The show concludes with him showing signs of recovery. He recognizes the necessity to pursue his own path and legacy, one we are left to imagine–but with glimmers of hope.

Anderson is excellent as the tightly wound, anxious middle-aged Terry. He has several emotional soliloquies directed straight to the audience. He is awkward in his quick, torrid romance with Justin, and he simply lies to Cassie about moving forward on a retrospective exhibition of Jeffrey's artwork. His angst about his role in Jeffrey's death is understandable, but he convincingly embodies a man having an extremely difficult time letting go of his past.

Dalton's flippant, overly familiar Justin is portrayed genuinely–a young gay man (although we learn a few unexpected tidbits about his past) who initially seems superficial and opportunistic, but who grows into a more full-bodied if immature partner. The role has its humorous aspects, especially when he rambles on with New York trivia, but his assessment of Terry's novel is warm and supportive.

The character of Cassie is relatively one-dimensional, so Nalley cannot give her much warmth. She quickly questions and dismisses Justin as a gold digger who's in her way, and her simmering fury with Terry doesn't allow much room for anything but selfish desire. Nalley handles the role with appropriate strength, but Cassie's ham-handed efforts to push Justin out of the picture make her singularly unsympathetic with little opportunity for any motivation more complex than her own ego.

Director Liz Carman keeps the story moving across a series of scenes, and she has carefully orchestrated the scenes of talking and arguing. Not much physical action is required. The show uses a single-unit set of Jeffrey's East Village work studio; Terry didn't want to bring Justin to the condo where he had lived with Jeffrey. It's a pale grey space with white trim and bland modern furniture (Ted Weil is both scenic and lighting designer).

This arresting piece of contemporary theatre featuring three contentious, sometimes troubled characters stumbling toward their futures is a fine choice for Falcon's season of new works that focus on various forms of chaos. Terry Parker's struggle to move beyond the chaos to a new, perhaps brighter, future is worth seeing.

Mr. Parker runs through March 29, 2025, at Falcon Theatre, 636 Monmouth Street, Newport KY. For tickets and information, please visit www.falcontheater.net.