[NEohioPAL] Speech & Debate by Stephen Karam Opens Friday at convergence-continuum

[Cory Molner]

*Speech & Debate* by Stephen Karam opens Friday, August 2nd at con*ver*
gence-continu*um*.
directed by Lèo Fez, Speech & Debate runs Thu-Sat at 8 p.m. August 2nd
through August 24th
For tickets and info visit: www.convergence-continuum.org

Three teenage misfits in Salem, Oregon discover they are linked by a sex
scandal that’s rocked their town. They may go to the same school, but
misfits Solomon, Diwata and Howie have never met and their teachers and
peers just don’t take them seriously—until a sex scandal involving one of
their teachers brings them together.  Soon they realize that three voices
are stronger than one. And since their school has no speech and debate
squad, maybe this is their chance to be heard at last—by the school and
even the world. When one of them sets out to expose the truth, secrets
become currency, the stakes get higher, and the trio’s connection grows
deeper in this searching, fiercely funny dark comedy with music.

Featuring Brandon Alexander Smith as Howie, Carolyn Demanelis as
Teacher/Reporter, Keniel Keeney as Soloman, and Zoë Frager as Diwata.

All performances are held at the Liminis Theater
2438 Scranton Rd. Cleveland 44113
in the Historic Tremont neighborhood.

*A triumph…hilarious, cliché-free, and immensely entertaining…Stephen
Karam’s dark comedy seems to be about a frumpy girl, a nerdy guy and an
openly gay guy who band together to disclose the truth about a teacher who
preys on his male students. But that topical plot is almost window
dressing. The play’s real accomplishment is its picture of the borderland
between late adolescence and adulthood, where grown-up ideas and ambition
coexist with childish will and bravado.” *—The New York Times.

*“…[A] savvy comedy…bristling with vitality, wicked humor, terrific
dialogue and a direct pipeline into the zeitgeist of contemporary
youth…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 points…*” —Variety.

*“A strong, rangy play…beautifully nails the indirection and crossed-wire
communication of teenagers bubbling over with contradictory needs and
insecurities.”* —Newsday (NY).

*“Karam comes through as a writer whose voice is clear, laugh-out-loud
funny and uncannily tuned to the way teens talk.” *—New York Daily News.

*“One of the top ten plays of the year…Even if you’re not fluent in IM,
you’ll LOL at this subversive comedy…Mordant misfits Diwata, Solomon, and
Howie come together via circumstance and learn valuable lessons: Sometimes
you’ve got to ‘hold it in,’ as The Crucible's plucky Puritan Mary tells a
sexually confused Abe Lincoln. And sometimes you need to crank up [the
music], strip down to a nude body stocking, make like Martha Graham, and
let it out.”* —Entertainment Weekly.

*“Flat-out funny…Sex, secrets and hypocrisy are the themes that tie the
play together…Stephen Karam has an outstanding ear for how young people
talk.*” —Associated Press.

*“This play is a f–ing blast.*” —Time Out Chicago.
-- 
Cory Molner
Executive Artistic Director
convergence-continuum
cmolner at convergence-continuum.org
216-308-9375
He/him (what this? <https://pronouns.org/>)
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