{"id":19533,"date":"2019-11-12T11:37:55","date_gmt":"2019-11-12T16:37:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/?p=19533"},"modified":"2019-11-12T11:37:55","modified_gmt":"2019-11-12T16:37:55","slug":"department-of-theatre-to-present-contemporary-social-drama-good-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/backup_insider\/department-of-theatre-to-present-contemporary-social-drama-good-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"Department of Theatre to Present Contemporary Social Drama Good Kids"},"content":{"rendered":"

Theatre is a medium that holds the mirror up to nature and sometimes, as in the contemporary social drama, Good Kids<\/em> by Naomi Iizuka being presented November 20-24 by East Stroudsburg University\u2019s Theatre Department, the reflection reveals unsettling aspects of society.<\/p>\n

Set at a Midwestern high school, in a world of Facebook and Twitter, smartphones and YouTube, Good Kids<\/em> explores a casual sexual encounter gone wrong and its very public aftermath.<\/p>\n

In the drama, something happened to Chloe after that party last Saturday night. Something she says she can\u2019t remember. Something everybody is talking about. Who\u2019s telling the truth?\u00a0 Whose version of the story do you believe?\u00a0 And what does that say about you?<\/p>\n

\u201cGood Kids<\/em> tackles difficult issues\u2014alcohol abuse, the dark side of social media and a rape culture that devalues women,\u201d noted Susan P. O\u2019Hearn, professor of theatre and director of the production. \u201cAs someone who works with young adults, these issues weigh heavily on my mind because everyone, female or male, is vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cast member Gabriella Williams, a junior from Old Forge, Pa. majoring in theatre and communications, said that the drama \u201cwill open people\u2019s eyes about what is considered rape, and the role that alcohol often plays.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams explained that the characters in the play have normalized alcohol abuse as a way \u201cto have fun, to socialize, and to be seen as an \u2018adult\u2019, but by drinking to excess they have no inhibitions and no control which never leads to anything good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people overshare on social media,\u201d said Marcell McKenzie, a senior majoring in musical theatre from Kunkletown Pa. \u201cOne push of a button and everyone has access to everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMany people aren\u2019t aware of how easy it is to trace deleted items on social media,\u201d added Jenna Worrell, a senior majoring in theatre and psychology from Philadelphia, Pa.<\/p>\n

Worrell said, \u201cOne thing playwright Naomi Iizuka does is show that a story like this isn\u2019t black and white, but that there are many factors involved. No one planned any of this and everyone has to deal with the consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA key question in the play is how to define a \u2018good kid\u2019,\u201d added McKenzie. \u201cThe girls say things that are just as vicious as the guys in the play. Everyone has good and bad qualities inside them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that the show starts conversations, especially at the high school and college levels,\u201d Worrell added. \u201cVictims of sexual assault need to learn that even though their life has changed, they are not alone and can get help and come out stronger. Everyone needs to think about the consequences of their own actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Curtain times for the production are 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday (November 20-23) and 2 p.m. Sunday (November 24.)\u00a0All performances are in the Smith-McFarland Theatre of the university\u2019s Fine and Performing Arts Center, Normal and Marguerite streets, East Stroudsburg.<\/p>\n

After each performance there will be a talkback session facilitated by Lauren Peterson, executive director of Women\u2019s Resources of Monroe County.<\/p>\n

General admission is $12; senior citizens, faculty and staff (with ID) are $10; and students (with ID) are $7. Some people might find the contents of this play disturbing. This play is recommended for mature high school students and adults.<\/em><\/p>\n

Tickets are available online in advance at\u00a0esu.edu\/theatretickets<\/a>\u00a0(credit cards only online). Remaining tickets are available at the box office one hour before curtain on performance dates (cash and checks only at the box office).<\/p>\n

For reservations or other information, please email\u00a0esuarts@esu.edu<\/a>\u00a0or call (570) 422-3759.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Theatre is a medium that holds the mirror up to nature and sometimes, as in the contemporary social drama, Good Kids<\/em> by Naomi Iizuka being presented November 20-24 by ESU\u2019s Theatre Department, the reflection reveals unsettling aspects of society.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":19535,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[143,42,58,69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-news-release","category-slider","category-theater"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/backup_insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/backup_insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/backup_insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/backup_insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/backup_insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19533"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/backup_insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19537,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/backup_insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19533\/revisions\/19537"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/backup_insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/backup_insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/backup_insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/backup_insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}