the edge motel
Written by Tom Rowan; Directed by Ron Lasko
Theater For The New City | 155 1st Ave, New York, NY 10003
September 4 - 13, 2026
Photo Credit by Max Ruby
We meet Brian (Beckett Fleet) and Allison (Hannah Heil) on the night of an intense blizzard, stranded at a motel. There’s awkwardness, exhaustion, and a sense of discomfort. Something is amiss, and we soon learn they have picked up a hitchhiker, Cody (Max Andrae). This immediately raises the stakes and creates a precarious situation. Why are two friends driving through the night in the dead of winter? Most road trips aren’t planned this way. We know they’re escaping something.
Written to reflect a world that feels increasingly unstable, Tom Rowan’s The Edge Motel attempts to engage with a remarkable number of the issues dominating contemporary American life. Political division, violence, intimacy, personal responsibility, and the question of whom we can trust all find their way into the conversation. The play even incorporates the attempted assassination of a president, using the event as a catalyst for a larger discussion about the state of the country.
There is certainly no shortage of material here. Perhaps that is also the challenge.
At 1 hour and 45 minutes without an intermission, the production can feel overwhelming in its determination to address so much at once. The political conversations, in particular, are often so heavily laden with the weight of the moment that they lose some of their dramatic immediacy. Rather than allowing the audience to discover these questions through the characters and circumstances, the dialogue can sometimes feel as though it is carrying the burden of explaining the world around them. And that world is already exhausting.
We are inundated daily with political conflict, violence, uncertainty, and competing versions of reality. Bringing all of that onto the stage can be powerful, but it requires a delicate balance. The Edge Motel sometimes struggles to find that balance, resulting in a production that feels longer and heavier than its contained setting might suggest.
Still, there are strengths in the production. Ron Lasko’s direction keeps the action moving within the limitations of the motel-room setting, while the three performers take on what amounts to a marathon of emotionally and intellectually demanding material. Beckett Fleet, Hannah Heil, and Max Andrae commit fully to the shifting relationships and escalating tensions, giving the production a strong theatrical foundation.
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Review by Malini Singh McDonald.
Published by Theatre Beyond Broadway on September 6, 2026. All rights reserved.