Speechifying Students

A sharp and immensely perceptive look at the lives of three high school students, the Roundabout Underground's inaugural production Speech & Debate threads together the idiosyncratic worlds of these students to create a magnificent appraisal of the politics, possibilities, and limitations of life in an Oregon high school. The tidy plot is deceptively simple: when three students realize they share grievances against the same teacher (a smarmy-sounding male drama teacher), they form a shaky alliance to get revenge.

But look again--playwright Stephen Karam (whose controversial play columbinus--about the Columbine school shootings--was recently produced at the New York Theater Workshop) has created an intricate minefield of secrets for each of these characters, who are brought to life by an extraordinarily gifted young ensemble. Gideon Glick (of Spring Awakening) is gleefully gawky as Howie, the new student who discovers the teacher during an online chat; Jason Fuchs is delightfully motor-mouthed as the passionate journalist-with-a-secret, Solomon; and as the theater-struck, pod-casting Diwata, Sarah Steele is a wise-cracking, insecure revelation. Susan Blackwell ([title of show]) is underused in the dual roles of a teacher and a journalist, but she delivers a precise performance in her trademark deadpan style.

The students' revenge revolves around creating a speech & debate team and using the various forms (group interpretation, cross-examination) to "perform" their points. The play follows suit, and each scene is introduced by a projected title of a different form of speech (poetry reading et al.)--giving us a clue as to the communication patterns that will follow.

Karam is adept at channeling the rhythms of teenage conversation; under Jason Moore's precise direction, Speech & Debate is a riveting, witty, and thought-provoking exercise. Some scenes could be trimmed, but when the material is this good, you really don't mind the excess.

Moore also directed the artfully ribald Avenue Q, and his clever winks are perfect for this material. Before the play begins, writing magically streams across the blackboard at the center of the set, in the manner of a student writing out a punishment: "I will turn of my cell phone," "I will turn off my cell phone" ...