Gwyn Davies and Claire Hibbeln

Oral Play Review

[Enter MORTIMER and ETHELBERT. Both sit down across from each other.]
[Masterpiece Classic theme plays. Bert and mort pose pompously]
[Music ends]
MORTIMER: Good evening, and welcome back to another episode of Soporific Palaver with
your favorite hosts. My name is Viscount Mortimer Ichabod Bumnapper the Odiferous, and this
is the honorable Ethelbert Geoffrery Theophilus the Snobbish. Ethelbert, would you care to
divulge tonights schedule?
ETHELBERT: Well, old chap, Im pleased to inform the audience that this evenings critique
features a most coruscating look at one of the issues closest to our hearts and minds - high
school.
MORTIMER: Yes indeed. I, too, faced a copious amount of bullying in high school.
ETHELBERT: [sarcastically] Cant imagine why.
MORTIMER: [glaring at bert] ...At any rate, tonights review is on a theatrical spectacle entitled
Good Kids, written by one Naiomi Izuka!
ETHELBERT: [gasps] A Yank?! How foul!
MORTIMER: Please, Ethelbert, the Americans are doing their best to contribute to the world of
theatre.
ETHELBERT: Dont tell me this play features more Colonists.
MORTIMER: Im afraid, my dear chap, it does.
ETHELBERT: [Muffles a sob] Well, we carry on. Stiff upper lip. God save the Queen.
MORTIMER: [long sigh] I suppose youve heard of Sofie Scott, the director? Or perhaps the
most exalted Brianna McCoy, who holds the titles of both RHT Director of Education AND Cast
Mentor?
ETHELBERT: At the risk of sounding incompetent...I suppose I dont.
MORTIMER: [clucks tongue] Really. And you call yourself a theatre connoisseur.
ETHELBERT: Dont invigorate me, Mortimer. The majority of those involved in the production
are school-age. After all, the play deals with the trials and tribulations of being so young.

MORTIMER: Well, you must know Ben Beriss, Cole Greenberg, Derek Lamb, Lucas Craig,
Ronee Goldman, Sofia Sandoval-Ferriss, and, of course, Willa Murphy, all enrolled at
Montgomery Blair High School?
ETHELBERT: Of course. Some of the old lads.
MORTIMER: I must say, this play does indeed touch on some sensitive subjects, considering
the tender age of the actors.
ETHELBERT: Indeed. The coverage of the topic of high school rape was most invidious. Most
shockingly, the play was based on a true-to-life event; the Steubenville High School rape case.
MORTIMER: It is a relevant issue that merits discourse.
ETHELBERT: Of course, old sport.
MORTIMER: I would say that what I took away from this theatrical marvel was the prevalence of
the title words: Good kids.
ETHELBERT: Absolutely. So often today does one hear the phrase Good kid. But what exactly
constitutes a good kid? Especially in cases like these, when the story is so unclear?
MORTIMER: Aha, youve caught on, Ethelbert. The play [deals with] the issue of the
perpetuation of rape culture in American society, and points out the flaws in todays obsession
with conformity and social media.
ETHELBERT: I dont know about you, Mortimer, but I would say my favorite aspect of this
thematic arrangement was the directing.
MORTIMER: How so?
ETHELBERT: Why, the diaspora of the narration was simply superb. The way the characters
spoke over each other - often all at once - and the non-linear structure of the events perfectly
reflects the confusion and anxiety of the spectacle.
MORTIMER: Indeed. In addition, it highlights the multitude of conflicting accounts and
perspectives on the incident.
ETHELBERT: Say, what else did you enjoy, old chap?
MORTIMER: Oh, the costuming was simply sublime. Each character has their own distinct style
that the other characters deem hip or not.

ETHELBERT: Do stop with the shortened language, Mortimer.

MORTIMER: [ashamed] My deepest apologies. At any rate, do you remember the scene in
which people judge the protagonist Chloe on the length of her dress and the height of her
heels?
ETHELBERT: Certainly. What an awful, derogatory culture.
MORTIMER: Indeed. In addition, the boys on the football team all wear identical letterman
jackets. This suggests that football in this town is almost a cult, and further emphasizes the
importance of conformity. The girls are all clothed very similarly in style, and it is easy to tell
whether a female character is a social outcast based on her clothes.
ETHELBERT: Do you know, I quite enjoyed the use of staging in the play.
MORTIMER: Simply smashing!
ETHELBERT: Since the story wasnt told in a linear fashion, the narrator, Deirdre, would often
call out commands such as pause, rewind or fast-forward and the other characters would
follow.
MORTIMER: Indeed! What a creative use of movement! I adored how it highlighted the
underlying themes of technology and the confusion as to the true events that occurred.
ETHELBERT: Shall we touch on the sound?
MORTIMER: [pained] If we must.
ETHELBERT: Now, while I myself prefer Beethoven to...pop music [Mortimer clutches his chest,
in physical pain] Its important to remember that the music does...serve a theatrical purpose.
MORTIMER: [sighing] I suppose youre right, Ethelbert. The music, however heinous, reflects
the teenage culture of throwing house parties and obsession with mass media.
ETHELBERT: [nodding solemnly] That it does.
MORTIMER: What I did appreciate, however, was the acting.
ETHELBERT: Positively splendid!
MORTIMER: I believe the choice to cast young actors was a wise choice for the play, since they
are able to empathize with the characters.

ETHELBERT: That they are. In addition, they are able to understand the trials and tribulations of
todays American teenager, as well as the toxic cultures that surround them.
MORTIMER: I think its astounding that people so young are able to grasp such complex
concepts as those discussed in Good Kids.
ETHELBERT: I completely agree. The actors truly understood both sides of the rape case and
its many complexities.
MORTIMER: Indubitably. I think one of the more profound topics they spoke of was the concept
of the Good kid. When a teenager does something awful, the first reaction is to say But they
were such good kids
ETHELBERT: Especially when the adolescent is a white male.
MORTIMER: Certainly. The play also touches on the injustice of male privilege. People were
awfully quick to accuse the protagonist, Chloe, as a slut or insinuate that she was asking for
it because she was inebriated. They made assumptions based on stereotypes and outward
appearances that were not sufficiently substantiated. In the end, nobody knew who the good
kids even were.
ETHELBERT: A smashing analysis, Mortimer. Lamentably, thats all we have for this evening.
Join us next time on Soporific Palaver. Im the honorable Ethelbert Geoffrery Theophilus the
Snobbish
MORTIMER: And Im Viscount Mortimer Ichabod Bumnapper the Odiferous. Thank you for
watching. [masterpiece music plays]