“O BEAUTIFUL” A SEARING NEW PLAY BY THERESA REBECK AT STORRS

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Simon West (Laurence Lau) interviewing Ben Franklin (David McCann)
Your memories of high schooldays may engender pleasure or pain, depending on your class status on thepopularity poll.  Those halcyonyears might have been the best or the worst of times.  Playwright Theresa Rebeck has fashioned a new play blendingcontemporary issues with historical facts and created a fascinating anddisturbing picture of the problems facing today’s youth.
The Connecticut RepertoryTheatre on the campus of the University of Connecticut at Storrs will tacklethis emotional powder keg “O Beautiful” until Sunday, October 14 and you areencouraged to weigh in on their excellent theatrical docket.
Lennie Ryan (Coles Prince)and Alice Fletcher (Hannah Kaplan) are probably never going to be voted Kingand Queen at the high school prom. They are much lower down on the social strata of cool, insider kids.  When Lennie, encouraged by his mom(Olivia Saccomanno), enters the school talent show to impress Alice, he messesup the words to his song, O Beautiful, and finds himself the target of avicious bullying campaign.
When his is verbally andphysically attacked by the school’s jocks and jills, Luke (Ryan Marcone), Erik(Thomas Dubinski) and Gwen (Kate Mavis Zulauf), Alice tries to defend him andstop them, but she is too busy dealing with her own bad stuff.  Alice has been date raped by Luke andis now pregnant, afraid to tell her parents (Sarah Wintermeyer and DariuszBurkowski) and endure their disappointment.
Through it all, Alice turnsto a loving and compassionate, understanding and supportive, Jesus (yes, thatJesus), played with incredible insight and sensitivity by Will Haden.  Jesus is there for Alice, and for allthe students, trying to help them emerge from a landscape littered with minesthreatening to explode.
Add to the culture clash aGlenn Beck style TV commentator Simon West (Laurence Lau) who delights ininterviewing such personalities as Thomas Jefferson (Anthony J. Goes), JohnAdams (Michael John Improta) and Benjamin Franklin (David McCann), as he triesto drum up support for his theories on government and gun control.
Don’t be surprised if ajustice defending Joan of Arc (Maggie Sulka) strides into the fray as well asan outspoken, truth seeking American history teacher (Thomas Brazzle) whogenuinely cares for the welfare of his students, even if it involves callingupon his sister (Whitney Andrews) to risk both their positions to help.  Kit Flannagan’s Mrs. Loomis does notcome off as especially effective as the high school principal.
Throughout this drama, thatis laced with humor thanks to Jesus’s presence, the visuals projected on thestage are particularly effective in underscoring the play’s message.  As we stand on the precipice of apresidential election, this play beautifully directed by Joseph Hanreddy, isespecially timely.  You may evenreevaluate Alexander Hamilton (James Jelkin) and his role in founding thisnation.
For tickets ($6-30), call theCT Repertory Theatre, Harriet .S. Jorgensen Theatre, on the campus of theUniversity of Connecticut, Storrs, at 860-486-2113 or online at www.crt.uconn.edu.  Performances are Wednesday and Thursdayat 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.
Forget boys and girls holdinghands and sharing a strawberry milk shake at the drugstore.  “O Beautiful” deals head on with thereal issues facing today’s young people and the world we have left them astheir legacy.