November 3, 2000

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 15

George Orwell meets 'The Breakfast Club'

DOBAMA THEATRE (2)

Traverse (Brian Douglas) and Fred (Rob Nix) are caught in the act in Toni K. Thayer's Angst: 84.

by Anthony Glassman

Do you remember high school? That might be a distant memory, or it might be right now. It is a time that can be painful and fun at the same time. Dobama's Night Kitchen is presenting Angst: 84, a play written by Toni K. Thayer, former Free Times arts editor and current graduate stuIdent. It is directed by Dan Kilbane, who recently starred as Bosie Douglas in Cleveland Public Theatre's Gross Indecency.

The one-act play focuses on a single day in the life of Lakeville Heights High School and the prisoners, er, students who go there.

The cast of the play is like every '80s film blended together with a little sprinkling of psychedelic drugs. There's Shannon, the Goth girl who stands outside and acts as the chorus; Winnie, Kim, and Roxanne, the vapid Valley-talk-spouting cheerleaders; Jones, the mod; Pac-Man, Tiffany, Duckie and Mitch, the stoners, and Julian, the pseudo-jock who eventually, like the pro-

tagonist in George Orwell's 1984, must decide whether to follow the state or his heart.

Of course, this is the eighties, so where would a story be without Reaganites? Providing the dramatic and comedic tension are Fred, a Young Republican, Christine, his girlfriend, and Kirby, Fred's sidekick and part-time storm trooper for Principal Duce (a reference to the fascist Italian leader Benito Mussolini, known as "Il Duce," the leader.)

Lest we forget, there is one other character. In every movie dealing with high school, there has to be at least one centered person, one student with everything together. In this play, it is Traverse, a foreigner in more ways than one. He's an exchange student from Canada, but he's also the play's only (openly) gay character. As the audience learns, coming out necessitated his move to the United States.

A number of the actors are themselves still in high school, giving the play a sense of surreal authenticity. The play itself rings true, and is brutally funny and hilariously honest at the same time.

Sabrina Gibbar, doing double duty as Tiffany, the metalhead from the wrong side of the tracks as well as the show's prop designer, was magnificent. Watching her

chase cheerleaders with a lighter and a can of hair spray brought back many high school fantasies.

Another standout was Heather N. Stout as Shannon, the Goth girl. The perennial outsider, witnessing everything going on in the halls of the school but seldom taking an active hand except in the interest of justice, she almost serves the function of deus ex machina, punishing the guilty, consoling the stupid.

A favorite, for obvious reasons, was Brian Douglas' portrayal of Traverse. A veteran of the Youngstown stage, Douglas does a wonderful job of illustrating the stupidity of those around him. He gets along with almost everyone, but still stands apart. There's a marvelous scene near the end, when he realizes that something happened and he missed it, and he and Shannon are discussing it. The two of them together, one feels, could almost make things right in a school whose motto is "Learning is Obedience.'

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In the end, though, it's too much. There are too many people hurting each other, and Shannon gives comfort where she can, gets comfort if she can, and goes home.

It really is a wonderful play, written specifically for this production. As mentioned earlier, a number of the actors are still in school, most at Shaker Heights. The fresh faces they provided only accentuated Dan Kilbane's clever direction of the witty script.

Dobama's Night Kitchen tries to bring young, hip audiences to the theater, and this was my first experience there. It will not be the last.

Angst: 84 will be playing November 3, 4, 5, 10 and 11. Friday and Saturday shows are at 11 pm, and the remaining Sunday show is at 8 pm. Tickets are $5. Dobama Theater is at 1846 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights; 216932-6838.

Fred shies away from the amorous Christine (Raquel Brown).