THE LESS THAN HUMAN CLUB by Timothy Mason; directed by Kenneth Washington; Babcock Theatre, lower level of Pioneer Memorial Theatre complex, 300 S. 1340 East (Broadway at University); continues Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m. through Nov. 3; matinee 2 p.m. Nov. 2 (followed by a free post-play discussion). Tickets: $8 on Thursdays, Sundays and the Sunday matinee and $9 on Friday and Saturday nights (half-price for students). Group rates available. Call 581-6961 for reservations. Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes (no intermission).
If the seven juniors in this loosely knit "club" had come along at another place and time (last year at East High School?) it wouldn't have survived past third period.
It's not really an officially sanctioned club anyway. Certainly not one you'd find preserved in the 1968 yearbook at Nathan Hale High School. Just seven mismatched outcasts who informally congregate at Jake's hamburger joint . . . or smoke a couple of joints on the sly . . . or sometimes get their noses bent out of joint.
Student scenery designer Abigail Kinney's striking set - four banks of larger-than-life high school lockers, most of them askew - could be a visual metaphor for the angst and anxiety that fills the youths' lives. They loom over the teenagers like a domineering parent . . . or a sadistic, all-powerful phys-ed teacher (with a penchant for beating young boys with a lanyard on their bared butts).
The closed doors might harbor some deeply hidden secrets - the things you dare not even divulge to your best friends.
The three walls surrounding the stage are covered with subtle sketches of high school students. They're barely visible . . . like some of these kids' problems are to their parents and teachers.
Director Kenneth Washington, working with a script that is both compelling and brutally honest, has a strong cast of exceptional talent. (If you think the Babcock is just amateurish, inept kids, you're wrong. These young actors take their craft seriously and it shows.)
Leading the pack are Edward Webster as emotionally confused Davis Daniels and Joel Weaver as rebellious Harley DeYoung, the only kid in school with his own probation officer.
Holly Brown portrays feisty, outspoken Amanda, with Rebecca J. Olson as naive Kirsten and Heather Howe as Julie - a girl who ends up being labeled "poor white trash" because of her relationship with Clint (Alfred Smith) a "colored boy" who aspires to become a doctor - not a vet.
Daniel Garton, too, gives a memorable performance as Dan Dwyer, the kid who is constantly being humiliated and abused by Coach Knipsy, but who finds some sense of trust and "belonging" with his small group of friends.
Lorry A. Houston is perfectly cast as Clinton's younger sister.
While the grown-up world about them is caught up in the swirl of militant blacks, war in Vietnam and political upheaval of the late '60s (including the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy), these kids are concerned with the harsh realities of teenage life: dates for the Sadie Hawkins Dance and the Junior/Senior Prom . . . girl talk in the women's rest room . . . beer and bonding on a hillside overlooking the lake.
And how do you respond when someone calls you "faggot" . . . or react when your life is threatened since you're a black guy bringing a white girl to the prom.
Mason's script is dramatic, funny, honest and thought-provoking. High school students should see it . . . with their parents.
- Sensitivity rating: Despite the attitude that kids just sit around swearing and talking about sex, this is very restrained. Some profanity, but not gratuitous.
Note: This weekend's performances are sold out. An extra night may be added. Check the Sunday Arts.