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Good Boys and True
By Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Directed by Pam MacKinnon
At Steppenwolf Theatre
1650 N. Halsted
Chicago, IL
Call 312-335-1650, tickets $20 -$68
Tuesdays thru Sundays at 7:30 pm
Saturday & Sunday matinees at 3 pm
Wednesday matinees on Jan. 23. 30 & Feb. 6 at 2 pm
Running time is 2 hours, 15 minutes with intermission
Through February 16, 2008
World Premier of Good Boys and True contains intelligent plot twists
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s smartly constructed Good Boys and True is a compelling story about a world of cultural privilege and the arrogance of wealth. Brandon Hardy (Stephan Louis Grush) is the brilliant, popular jock who is one of the elite seniors at St. Joe’s Prep school where the upper class boys prepare for the Ivy League and a life as part of the ruling class. Brandon’s future is threatened by a videotape found on the campus. Elizabeth Hardy (Martha Lavey) is called in by Coach Russell (John Procaccino) in an attempt to cover up a potential scandal. St Joe’s has a cultural of quietly protecting both the school’s and the boy’s reputations.
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Privilege both breeds scandals and covers them up. Aguirre-Sacasa’s world premiere unfolds as a mystery in which we see how the dynamic of a troubled boy, who has a three year gay relationship with Justin (Tim Rock), must struggle with the dilemma of how he feels about Justin and the privileged life laid out for him by his family. The influence of his father steers Brandon into trouble.
I can’t give away too much of the plot but I can say that the mother-son relationship and the contempt for working class girls and the hypocritical values of the elite prep school are dramatized and mirrored to expose the conflict between a boy’s true identify and the pressure to live to the families values. I found the structure worked to engage me as it compelled me to wonder where the play was going. Martha Lavey and Stephen Louis Grush were effective in the mother-son scenes. Kelly O’Sullivan, as Cheryl, was excellent as the poor high school student. The story has a workable structure and a nice piece of story telling. Roberto Aguirre-Scasa is a playwright with promise.
Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed: December 21, 2007
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