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Much better than the newspaper reviews...much better! Review by: CLars, May 29, 2008 |
| Well worth seeing—prompted a vibrant discussion afterward with my friends who saw it with me. The newspaper reviews of this play underrate it terribly. Yes, some of what happens is predictable...because in life, in this situation (which happens more frequently than any of us want to admit), the result IS predictable. The issues of class, of privilege, of homophobia, of parental responsibility were handled very well. Given the "ok" review ... read more in the Times, I figured for the price and since I was interested in the issues, I couldn't lose...but the play was far better than I had been led to expect. Go see it...and when you leave, ask yourself what do you think will happen when the father arrives? |
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My recommendation:
Make an effort to see
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I saw this show with:
Business Associate
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Recommended for:
Adults
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Great show, entertaining and makes you think. Great but not heavy. Review by: jasny, May 24, 2008 |
| Ok, I am not going to go through this part by part and tell what I liked about it. There was a lot to like. Especially for the discount price, the value is amazing. The acting was superb. It addressed issues in a very nice way. It was far from a been there done that. The set was great. I can not imagine anyone young not liking it. |
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My recommendation:
Make an effort to see
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I saw this show with:
Business Associate
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Recommended for:
Romantic Date, Tourists, Adults
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| 3 |
GOOD BOYS AND TRUE: SVU Review by: Beth M, May 19, 2008 |
Good Boys and True
By Beth Mandelbaum
While this is not a great play, it does treat some very significant issues and the acting is quite good. I must admit that I did find this show absorbing and it did hold my attention. However, there was a certain degree of predictability.
It takes place in 1989 at an exclusive boy’s Catholic private high school in Washington DC, where just about everyone comes from extremely ... read more privileged backgrounds. It is an exploration of extreme adolescent behavior on the part of members of the football team: boys behaving badly.
The title is completely ironic as this show is really about bad boys and lies. The phrase "good boys and true" is part of the school’s, or perhaps the school's football team’s, marching song or anthem. Te show begins in an empty room, full of beautiful and glimmering trophies, and all that one hears is this song.
The play focuses on a video (which is only described) of one of the members of the football team engaging in a graphic, shocking and extremely demeaning sexual act with a young woman, actually akin to rape. A young man actually believes that what he did was not big deal, but rather just a prank, a sharing of sexual conquest just like the other boys do in their locker room talk, with no seeming comprehension of the seriousness and potential consequences of his actions.
The play has to do with personal and parental responsibility; the sense of amorality on the part of these teenager; a powerful portrayal of what it means to be highly privileged and have the false sense that one will always be secure and protected, regardless of what one does, because of connections and power; it’s a story about lying versus telling the truth.
It also contains a rather shocking portrayal of social classism, where a privileged boy feels that it is all right to do something dreadful to another human being, to victimize and humiliate someone of a lower class, because he feels that they just don't matter; it is a tale of the "old boy" network, and an attempt to try to keep a situation a secret that can be handled within the school and the family; there is also the extreme naivety on the part of the young boy that he could commit a viscous act and truly believes that his family would be able to make some calls and make everything go away; and it is very much a portrait of a mother's struggle to make sense out of it all, and her strong need to know the truth, and to try to understand what could possibly motivate her son to do such a thing.
In terms of the rather disturbing social classism in this play, we are presented with the fact that someone could look at another human being as simply not worth anything, and therefore believe that using that person in an act of sexual violence is an okay thing to do.
And it’s also very much about the ultimate humiliation of the young woman, the victim, who is from a different social class, and what’s this experience has done to her life, and that of her family.
I would not necessarily recommend this play, though I am glad that I saw it. There would seem to be more thoughtful, moving, probing, reflective and philosophical plays that one can see on or off Broadway at this time.
And when the show ends its run on June 1st, I can envision parts of the dialog used in an intriguing episode or two of Law & Order: SVU!
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My recommendation:
Don't go
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I saw this show with:
Alone
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| 4 |
"Good Boys and True" Review by: Tom, May 12, 2008 |
"Good Boys and True," by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is currently in early previews at the Second Stage Theatre. Perhaps once the cast has had a chance to become more familiar with their roles and to become more comfortable with their fellow performers and coalesce into an ensemble, the power that I think is there in the text will come through. The story, which takes place at an exclusive, Catholic, boys-only school, is simple: a video tape has ... read more been discovered, showing what looks like the captain of the football team having violent sex with an unknown teenage girl. (The story takes place in 1989, pre-YouTube.) Is it, in fact, the handsome, charismatic team captain, son of two doctors, one of whom was a legendary leader and athletic star when he attended the same school? Will the football coach find some way to keep the story under wraps, to deal with it quietly?
There is a lot to like about "Good Boys and True." The set is beautiful -- row upon row of glittering sports trophies, calling to mind the tradition (and priorities) of the school, and allows for almost seamless changes between scenes. The story is interesting and has plenty to draw us in.
Unfortunately, there are still too many wrinkles still to be ironed out of this preview production. The actors, I think, can grow into their roles. The author may find ways of reforming his text to build in a bit more drama. The question is, will they? I'm guessing no.
By Tom Bestor |
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