Pubdate: Sun, 16 Jun 2002
Source: Greenwich Time (CT)
Copyright: 2002, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc
Contact:  http://www.greenwichtime.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/697
Author: Beth Cooney
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?135 (Drug Education)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

KIDS 'OUT OF CONTROL'

Meet the out-of-control students of Wilton High School. There is Ryan, the 
popular, lacrosse-playing, weekend binge drinker.

And there's Jessica; the pretty blonde who seems to have it all, including 
a drug habit and a promiscuous way with most of the popular boys in the class.

Then there's Johnny. He was a B student whose life went to pot after he 
started smoking marijuana. And Sarah, the overachiever, who abuses 
Adderall, a prescription drug used to treat attention deficit disorder, to 
help her stay competitive.

These kids really don't exist. They are characters in a new play written by 
Fairfield writer and drug educator/counselor Barry Halpin. A cast of real 
Wilton High students will perform Halpin's piece tonight at Stamford's Rich 
Forum.

The thing that's intriguing about "Out of Control" -- a work Halpin set in 
a rehabilitation clinic -- is that its youthful cast says that there's not 
a lot of artistic license at play.

If anything, they say, the ensemble piece is a bit restrained when it comes 
to exploring the realities of drug and alcohol use and abuse by suburban 
high school students.

"This is by no means autobiographical," says Tiffany Blake, a 16-year-old 
who plays the addicted temptress Jessica. "I'm definitely not my character, 
but I certainly know people like her. They go to this school."

Fellow cast member Sarah Kate Feiber, also a Wilton High sophomore, agrees. 
"We know all these people," she says, "or at least someone a lot like 
them." Adds Blake, "You could probably write this play about any high 
school in Fairfield County."

If you're at all naive, that may come as a bit of a shock. But it's real.

"Every single problem mentioned in the play is one we've seen here," says 
Daniel Raposa, a senior who plays Johhny, the listless pothead suffering 
from arrested social development. "And you know, those characters (the real 
students) are not in rehab. They are not getting help and their problems 
are not getting resolved."

Playwright Halpin, a Fairfield resident, collaborates with Wilton High's 
theater arts students as part of his work with LMG Programs, Inc., a 
Darien-based substance abuse health care agency that specializes in prevention.

Although he wrote the original "Out of Control" script, he says the cast, 
along with their teacher, Bonnie Dickinson, made important contributions 
during the rehearsal process.

"They had a lot of say about the dialogue and we listened," says Dickinson, 
adding the students encouraged bold dialogue and character development.

That includes supporting the inclusion of a character, Michael, who is gay 
and does something drastic and devastating after his father doesn't accept 
his coming out. Dickinson notes, "It would be a big deal to come out at 
Wilton High. So to even include that character showed some courage."

The students say that even though the relatively hip Halpin, the married 
father of 16-year-old twin daughters who usually sports jeans, an earring 
and black T-shirts, did a good job conveying the lives of contemporary 
teens, there were occasions when his script made them wince.

"You know you don't want to sound dorky," explains Raposa. "So we would 
tell him, 'No way we would ever say that' and we would change the dialogue."

Halpin says he was happy to abandon his writer's sense of ownership for the 
sake of authenticity. His only edict: "It's a school. We had to keep the 
cursing to a minimum," he says. "But I wanted it to be real."

The play has already been performed for the entire Wilton High student body 
and to an audience of parents, with great response, says Dickinson.

What impressed the students the most was the reaction from adults, who 
during a question-and-answer session following the performance, seemed to 
treat the student cast as "experts" and looked to them for advice on 
raising their own kids.

"We're not experts," says Raposa. "So it was a little strange to have the 
parents treat us that way." Adds Blake, "They kept asking us what they 
should say and do."

Halpin notes that while the teens don't see themselves as experts, "To the 
parents they are. They get their generation. It's just like the changes 
they made in the dialogue. It may not have sounded dorky to me, but it did 
to them. They have a better idea of what to say and what to do than they 
think they do."

The chance to perform at the Rich Forum this weekend is a thrill for the 
student thespians. Halpin, who has an ongoing creative relationship with 
the Rich Forum, was able to make arrangements for the regional performance. 
He credits Stamford Center for the Arts for making the students welcome as 
part of Executive Director George Moredock's quest to encourage 
community-oriented programming.

"A lot of us have some interest in the theater," says senior Andrew Sell, 
who plays Ryan, the car-crashing, hard-drinking jock. "So the chance to 
perform on a real stage is a thrill."

"It's kind of intimidating, but it's awesome," says Blake, who like other 
students says he hopes for a decent crowd despite the competition from 
Father's Day activities.

*

"Out of Control," a one-hour play, will premiere at Stamford's Rich Forum, 
307 Atlantic St., tonight at 7. Tickets cost $10, $5 for children 12 and 
younger. Tickets may be purchased from the theater box office, by calling 
325-4466 or online at www.onlyatsca.com.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom