A play written a decade ago about sexual assault in the age of smart phones and social media is still relevant and one that local theater students are tackling.
Directed by theater professor Amelia Barrett, “Good Kids” will be performed at 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays Feb. 29-March 17 in The Studio at the McAninch Arts Center at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn.
Written by Naomi Iizuka in 2014, “Good Kids” was the first play chosen as part of the Big Ten Theatre Consortium’s New Play Initiative, which commissioned a woman playwright each year for 10 years. It is based on a 2012 incident in Steubenville, Ohio, where a girl was sexually assaulted at a party.
“I taught this play for theater appreciation last fall and I was a little gun shy about it, thinking that it was a subject matter that I wasn’t sure my students would be comfortable with, but they were all on board with it,” Barrett said.
“They identified with it and wanted to talk about it. I’m pretty proud of our students that they have the ability to talk about a sensitive subject matter openly and not run away from it. The group of students that are in the show are really wonderful and very supportive of one another. It’s been a really good experience.”
Set in the Midwest, a high school girl named Chloe attends a party. Her drink is spiked, she passes out and is repeatedly assaulted by a group of football players while others not only passively look on but take pictures and live-tweet the events.
“She doesn’t remember any of it. Zero,” Barrett said.
The fallout is just as appalling and horrifying when the images and video spread like wildfire through the small town.
“Her life is ruined because you don’t get rid of that, you carry it with you forever,” she said. “And no one talks about it, they just go about their day like nothing happened.”
Even though none of the assault is shown onstage, Barrett brought in an intimacy coach to help her young cast deal with the subject matter. They needed to learn how to leave the play at the theater, she said. There are 12 in the cast plus a stage manager.
“Unfortunately, this is a very important topic that our students can relate to.
“It’s not an easy topic,” she said. “That’s why I made sure to (add) the trigger warning we have on our website. I don’t think it’s for everybody. It’s a sensitive subject. I think it’s really important for young people to openly speak about it and get some help if they’ve experienced it.”
The events of the play are told in a non-linear fashion, she said.
“Which I think is playing with your whole sensibility of, ‘what could I have done differently?,’” she said.
A selection committee reads over the plays picked for the season and agreed that even though it was uncomfortable, “Good Kids” deserved a place on the docket.
“They can’t all be fun,” she said.
Part of the mission of the theater department is to train the students in different genres and sometimes that means discussing tough subjects, she said.
“We want our students to have a wide range of experiences and be well-versed in what theater does and how important it is.”
She said she honestly doesn’t know if people will come to see “Good Kids.”
“I think there’s a place for it,” she said. “I think that the playwright doesn’t answer the questions that she poses.
“I think she really asks the audience to think about it and if possible, try to figure out what to do about it. She doesn’t tell you what to do about it and it’s not resolved in the play. This kind of play is hard because you’d like it to have some resolution at the end and it doesn’t.”
There will be a post-show discussion with the director, cast and crew on March 8.
‘Good Kids’
When: Feb. 29-March 17
Where: The Studio at the McAninch Arts Center at the College of DuPage, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn
Tickets: $14-$16
Information: 630-942-4000; atthemac.org
Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
