|
theatre
| 3/3/2010 2:50:00 PM Email this article • Print this article |
|
Alison Scaramella and Adam R. Deremer rehearse for “Speech & Debate” at the Kitchen Theatre. (Photo by Megan Pugh) |
|
|
Back to school days: 'Speech & Debate' takes high-tech look at today's teens
By Paul Hansom
Stephen Karam's "Speech and Debate," at the Kitchen Theatre through March 14, is an embarrassment of riches: sharp, smart, hip, current, political, sexual, you name it. This production literally zips along at such a pace that insight and entertainment are delivered in equal measure.
Plot-wise, the play focuses on a trio of teen misfits in Salem, Oregon (witch hunt anyone?), who link up via the internet during a breaking sex scandal involving the local mayor. But this outer device folds neatly into an increasingly intense meditation on the teenagers themselves, exploring their desires to be out and in at the same time. Sometimes disclosure and secrets don't mix, and director Samuel Buggeln's production captures this tough, contradictory world, gamely riding the freak/geek subculture with a very talented cast.
Abigail Smith's set design uses the Kitchen Theatre's minimum space to maximum effect. Clever and inventive, the circuit board motif stretches across the back wall, peppered with the corporate logos of communication and web technologies. And rather than have the floor cluttered with props, the strategic use of Velcro (once its own high-tech), solves the spatial problem nicely. Similarly, back projections not only offer the right high school feel, but echo PowerPoint and email screening nicely.
The play opens grandly with Copland's majestic "Fanfare for the Common Man," which is beautifully deflated by the clattering keyboard of a young guy trawling for sex on Gay.com. This is Howie, the precocious gay senior, who has absolutely no problem with his sexuality at all. In fact, he's been out since the age of ten. Adam Deremer is flawless as the gay lad, savvy and razor sharp, with zero patience for game-playing. But he's not a cruel kid; he's just been through some hard struggles, and wants to keep his channels clear.
His opposite number is Solomon (a terrific Conor Tansey), the uber-geek school stringer with a lumpy, gee-whiz demeanor, looking for a scoop on the mayor. He has an outsized sense of his own purpose, and because he's jealous of his leads and relentless in tracking down sources, he comes a cropper, isolating himself on some very thin ethical ice. When the crunch comes he does the right thing, of course, but not before exposing his own flaws in an agony of self doubt and disclosure.
As Diwata, Alison Scaramella steals the show, as you'd expect, since she's both a wannabe actress and local diva, feverishly podcasting her thoughts, desires, and gossip on her "monoblog." She's angry and in a moment of digital outreach, she connects with both Howie and Solomon. And since she's also in charge of the speech and debate team, she manages to lure the guys in, turning the burgeoning scandal into a performance at the local competition. Here Karam's writing is inspired, culminating in a song and dance jamboree featuring a gay Lincoln who manages to free the slaves by staying in the closet. Diwata is completely self-absorbed (as they all are to a degree), hungry for her big break. Scaramella finds the exact, believable balance between self interest and camaraderie, her eye firmly on her own prize. Warmth with just the right amount of calculation.
My heart goes out to Renee Petrofes, because she's relegated to being, well, the older person in the play. As teacher and a reporter, she has to squash the youthful energies, or at least channel them, and her very presence makes you realize how insular and separated the teen experience really is. It's good to have some leavening maturity, and Petrofes' solid sense acts like a lifeline.
While the digital age has its detractors, Karam accepts that it is here to stay, but like most revolutions, it comes at a significant cost. Sure, these teens are hooked into each other, relatively comfortable with complete disclosure and exposure, but there seems to be little room for privacy or intimacy in this landscape. And though these digiteens are linked, they never quite reach the stage of being friends, and this is perhaps fitting. Friendship has been re-wired.
"Speech & Debate" runs at the Kitchen Theatre through March14. Visit www.kitchentheatre.org for more information.
|  |
Article Comment Submission Form
|
|
Suicide has recently come to Ithaca in a very public, and at times controversial, way. This past academic year, after three years with no suicides, Cornell experienced what is known in the scientific community as a "suicide cluster." OK, so maybe you're like me and you thought this whole JetBlue flight attendant story was good for maybe one news cycle.  |
