“subText”
“subText” By Tyler Dwiggins
Directed by Wade Hair
Breakthrough Theatre
Winter Park, FL</strong>
Teen romance is never easy, and now it’s not just “does he like me?” Nowadays its more like “does he like my gender?” This collection of nearly a dozen shorts explores this theme; there’s a unifying thread of Cameron (Bryan Adobo) and Dani (Maddie Roby) who commiserate and offer surprisingly adult advice to each other. He has a crush on his lab partner; her dating record has a half-life of three days. They internet stalk this mysterious lab guy; his musical tastes and fantasy football interests indicate this might not be a good guy to ask out. While this unwinds over four vignettes, Mike (Joshua Huff) foolishly tries to date Rosie, Posie and Josie but his fat fingered texting crosses the beams, and the blast crater he leaves behind is pretty deep. Barely legal Ameillia (Sophia Bell) and equally youthful Ed (Tyler Kreusch) might have a future but he’s a sloppy speller and she’s a diphthong Nazi. I suggest both of them wait a bit before hooking up for real.
Next Mr. Huff continues in his “not gonna get any” ways as he plays video games on what might be an anniversary date. Lucky for him its GF Erin (Mary Grace Meyer) the actually fumbles the dates but it’s a close thing. Lastly I’ll mention “Dressing It Up” with Josie (Faith Elyse) and Bridget (Lillian Almodavar) as they head out shopping for prom dresses. Josie’s gung-ho even though the big night is still is months away. She rejects an orange dress, claiming “It makes me look like a sad traffic cone.” That’s the best line in the show. Anyway, they decide that prefer each other, and this may be the earliest conclusion to the “who to go out with?” ever asked. Today’s cast is fun and fresh and they often provide us with acting that’s better than the text they work from. Teens will identify with this; I had a good time but found it a bit cell phone heavy.
For more information, please visit http://www.breakthroughtheatre.com or look them up on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Breakthrough-Theatre-of-Winter-Park/
