High school students trying to be funny is practically a definition of "sophomoric humor," and there's an awful lot of that in "Speech and Debate," a production of the Stray Dog Theatre affiliate, [insert name here] Theatre Project. The satiric comedy, by Stephen Karam, opened last night at Tower Grove Abbey and will run through Feb. 20.
As noted, fans of sophomoric humor will have all the laughs they can handle. Those who like their humor with a little more sophistication will have almost enough laughter. A major problem, however, is that a pre-curtain announcement speaks to a length of 1:40, without an intermission. When the clock reaches 1:45, there's a lot of quivering in the seats, and there's still more than five minutes to go. An intermission would help.
Diwata (Alex Miller), Howie (Drew Pennebecker) and Solomon (Matt Redmond) are high school classmates in Salem, Ore. Solomon, a reporter for the school paper, is checking a rumor that the principal has been putting sexual moves on students. Diwata, who prefers to use the almost-always empty boys' room on the third floor, confirms it. When Solomon gets into a funny argument with the paper's advisor (Leslie Sikes, too cutesy and high-pitched), the three friends decide to form a speech and debate society, of which they turn out to ben the only members.
The Salem connection to Salem, Mass., home of the 17th-century witch trials, makes for a number of laughs, and Diwata decides that her favorite literary-theatrical woman is Mary Warren, the accused witch from Arthur Miller's "The Crucible." Miller, the dumpling-esque Diwata who was charming as Little Red Riding Hood in Stray Dog's "Into the Woods," a few years ago, sings and clowns her way through the role and is quite effective, especially when sex enter the speech and debate area and she starts discussing "the bathing suit areas," with appropriate hand movements. Her compatriots are less so. Chris Owens' direction is too static, though he can move a four- (basically three-) person cast only so much. Karam falls short because he takes so long to get to his punch lines that we've lost our road map and forgotten the set-up. And he needs more situations and set-ups than the one or two he uses, and overuses.
Through Feb. 20 at the Tower Grove Abbey
–Joe