It is entirely appropriate that convergence-continuum, with its tendency to challenge conventional notions by choosing plays because they contain controversial topics, is staging Stephen Karam’s Speech and Debate, which examines teenage angst as it relates to love, self-acceptance and what happens when three teens are forced to confront the real world in which they live.
The teenage misfits, Solomon, Diwata and Howie, who go to the same school, have different gripes with life, but soon realize that three voices are stronger than one.
Meet the dynamic trio:
There is Solomon, a nerdy kid with ambitions of being a journalist. As his/their latest cause-celeb, he/they wants to investigate homophobic closeted men in positions of power. He/they gets a chance when the conservative Republican mayor of Salem, Oregon, is caught in a sex scandal involving underage boys. Solomon writes the story. It, along with an essay on abortion, are rejected for publication by the school’s newspaper advisor because of her fear that there will be community backlash.
Then there is Howie, an out gay high school senior, who has transferred from a liberal Portland school. He is disgusted by the Puritan culture of Salem, in which he can’t get a Gay-Straight Alliance sponsored at school, but can make a gay “sex” date online with a school faculty member.
The trio also contains Diwata, a black female diva, who has a grudge against the school’s drama teacher because he refuses to cast her in a major part and won’t stage her musical version of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, a play about witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. She goes into the boy’s bathroom one day because the girl’s facility is overcrowded. While seated in a stall, she witnesses what she thinks is an illicit encounter between a student and the drama teacher.
When the three students realize that they each have a piece of the same scandalous puzzle, secrets are bartered, and ultimately, and in spite of their differences, an alliance is formed.
They realize that since their school has no speech and debate squad, if they form one and present their “evidence,” maybe this is their chance to be heard at last — by the school and even the world.
The play has been bannered as, “A triumph…hilarious, cliché-free, and immensely entertaining, “…[A] savvy comedy…bristling with vitality, wicked humor, terrific dialogue and a direct pipeline into the zeitgeist of contemporary youth.” Other reviewers have stated, “Karam has a keen ear for how teens talk, move and think, how they view each other and the adult world … and uses both the advantages and perils of cyberspace to make amusing, original point,” and “This play is a f–ing blast.”
Con-con’s staging, thanks to solid directing by Léo Fex was effective, holding the attention throughout, in spite of some over-tinkering with the various set pieces, which slowed down the production,
In most productions of the script, the role of Solomon is played by a male. Fex, who identifies as “they,” decided to have Keniel Kenney, who also identifies as “they,” play the role. They are dressed in a shirt whose buttons follow the male buttoning configuration and has a “boyish” haircut. This interpretation gives a gender/sex fluid, non-differentiated identity, to Solomon. Whether intentional or not, this casting changes the meaning of some of the author’s lines. Keeney is “geek” strong in the role.
Zoë Frager is drama queen perfect as the obsessed actress/playwright-wanna be. Brandon Alexander Smith nails the role of Howie. Carolyn Demanelis handles both the role of teacher and reporter effectively.
Though the program does not give credit for whomever is responsible for the design and execution of the electronic graphics, it should be noted that they strongly enhance the show.
Capsule judgment: Speech and Debate is a well-conceived and written play that gets a very creditable production at con-con.
For tickets for the show, which runs through August 24 go to convergence-continuum.org.
Next up at con-con: The Pitchforks (October 4-26).