When the Rain Stops Falling gives us insight on a dysfunctional family through multiple decades while experiencing the unnatural changes of the world. The play begins in the 1960s with Elizabeth and Henry Law in a quaint flat in London, England. The couple unexpectedly have a son, Gabriel. Henry leaves the family due to his actions, fleeing to Australia. This then brings us to the next decade of 1988 with Elizabeth, now 56 years old and Gabriel at age 28. Elizabeth’s health has worsened, and Gabriel decides it’s time to see what Australia holds for him. During his adventure, Gabriel meets Gabrielle York. The romance begins with a rocky, unknowing start but the pair fall in love.

Shortly after, Gabrielle finds out she is pregnant with Gabriel’s baby, but he unfortunately passes in a car accident. Time then fast forwards to 2013 Australia with 50-year-old Gabrielle and Joe Ryan, 50, her husband. Gabrielle named her son Gabriel after his biological father with his full name being Gabriel York. The marriage between Gabrielle and Joe comes to an end as Gabriel is then abandoned, just as his father was. The time hops all the way to 2039 Australia where we see the same behavior repeated as Andrew Price meets his estranged father, Gabriel York at age 50, living in a shabby apartment with little to no money or connection. The world is now stricken with food scarcity, an economic crisis, and abnormal weather patterns. Throughout the relationships between the characters, we see how the earth changes in resources and the way the planet reacts to the character’s choices. 

Andrew Bovell’s When the Rain Stops Failling shows us the possible outcome of our environment through the lens of the “modern” family. The connection between the family’s generational implications and the response of the environment is a practice identified through Wendy Aron and Thersea May’s term ecodramaturgy.

Ecodramaturgy is a term describing theatre and performance making that puts focus on ecological reciprocity and community at the center of its theatrical and thematic intent (Arons and May 4). The concept of ecodramaturgy is separated into three categories of sociological/ecological justice, how the family is impacted by the weather, and the interconnection between the environment and the characters (Arons and May 5-6). Bovell touches on two of three of these, the sociological/ecological justice and the interconnection of the environment and characters.

The connection of nature and human through climate surrounds those in the play just as it does through what is natural to humans. Bovell plays with the idea between human nature versus betrayal of natural society. Henry Law is accused of touching a boy and his wife, Elizabeth, finds pictures of naked children in his belongings. Placed perfectly in the dialogue, Elizabeth tells Henry about her encounter with the police’s visit on the accusations, “I said this is not right. How dare you accuse my husband of such a thing. Against nature. And I sent them on their way, Henry” (Bovell 1179). Henry even mentions this reference to nature when he says, “What kind of man am I? What in nature makes a man like me?” (Bovell 1192). Both Elizabeth and Henry note that nature is connected to the actions of Henry and how this shapes the plot of the play. The connections we see goes beyond those written explicitly in the scenes but how our characters make decisions that go against our norms.