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Winter Break
On the first night of winter break, nineteen teenagers some who know each other, some who don’t, wrestle with friendships, breakups, loss, graduating and finding their place in the world.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 14, 2023
questionably fake woke
July 18, 2024
"You aren't wearing any socks."
"No, no I am not."
It started, just as it ended: anti-climatic—a play forcing itself to be taken seriously without any depth needed to solidify that pretense.
There are times within the play; when readers are bombarded with sappy moments, forcing us to pity and feel for characters that lack genuine effort. We cannot be made to care about a story we don't fully comprehend, nor can we care about characters if we've only known them through superficial descriptions and cheesy one-liners during scenes set up to feel as though we're in an iteration of "almost, maine."
A significant chunk of dynamics within the scenes plays on the idea of their physicality being their stark difference. an alternative guy and a preppy, popular girl. the nerd and the philosopher.
I've found very few characters hold any genuine chemistry, which is painful considering this whole play's growing theme is this idea of community bringing people together in times you'd least expect it. Whether through mourning or friendship. Through new beginnings, and not-so-happy endings.
Beyond that, this play attempts to tackle incredibly serious topics without any of the background needed. Racism, abuse, grief. All of which are given a single scene to debrief before we're onto the next. We see little of who these characters are beyond their pain. And when we are given scenes with genuine feeling or some actual character, it's soon overshadowed by the severity of the next scene, or the less-than-ideal chemistry between the two (or three, or four dependent on whose in).
I enjoyed the sillier scenes more than I did the serious ones. Brett and Charlie's opening, albeit oddly written were two comfortably awkward characters getting to know how it's nice to be alone together (even though I found it odd Brett had ignored Charlie in the opening sequence only to be hanging out with him in the intro, but I digress). It was sweet, simple, and a little cheesy nearing it's end. I liked that. The second scene as well! And that managed to slip into a more serious topic. Money, and how it can blind people. Make them ignorant, unaware of people's struggles.
Scene three is where you lose me slightly. It didn't read at all that they were close friends, rather just an overworked employee and their customer whose social awareness isn't the best. This scene tackled the bullying of Kai from years prior and how Cam felt defending them. Even though their friend was safe, they felt unappreciated. Intensive miscommunications until it burst out years later. I love those troupes. However, as the scene goes on, I find the sequencing confusing. The attempt for a kiss at the end, with the weirdly placed dance sequence? The crying? Why did every other character need to be directed to cry or laugh uncontrollably or anything of that matter?
Scene four is what pushed me over the edge and sort of made me lose interest entirely for a good few days. Scene four, unlike the others, needed to be handled with a special amount of care. For it tackles two serious issues in one. Racism and domestic abuse. I think it's important for plays to discuss real-world issues, even in fantasy. Our world's problems don't disappear even in an idealized society. However, if you are going to cover such topics, you should be educated in both departments. Whether it be through friends, peers, verified sources, etc. This scene does not read as such.
I mean, describing the experiences of a young black boy being painfully aware of his race and its effect on how people will see him as playing a video game is one of the craziest things I've read this year.
Another issue I had prior was also the sequencing. This remains as such here, as well. With Ricky finally admits the reason he came to talk to AJ is the fact his father is hitting his mom. Again. When this happens, he often hides at his friend's house, a mutual friend of both. It is there, his parents come looking and find him before the police come and he's forced to lie to them about what happened. He doesn't want to leave his mom, and so, he lies. He tells them everything is fine. That no one is hit. That they are happy. But, after seeing this for so long, it becomes hard to lie, and so, he needed someplace else to hide. My question is - why did the mutual friend not contact AJ to see if he was home? If he could help? Why did he have to learn almost minutes later, after seeing a random guy enter his yard and begin talking about their choir practice? Why didn't their friend call him, and see if his parents would house him for the time being? This isn't as simple as a "meet AJ, he'll help you." This is domestic violence.
And it's painful to see how this was handled. One could argue the fact they're still in high school, they wouldn't know what to do, and lest opens the door to unconventional means of handling serious situations. However, as a *real* teenager, whose been in these situations before. We are well aware of the severity.
I wish I could say these were my only issues. However, it only continued as the play went on. I did enjoy some aspects of the story, with the ghosts in Dylan's basement and the genuine heartbreak that came from the breakup scene. But, I did not enjoy it enough for it to outweigh the negatives. 2 stars, solid.
"No, no I am not."
It started, just as it ended: anti-climatic—a play forcing itself to be taken seriously without any depth needed to solidify that pretense.
There are times within the play; when readers are bombarded with sappy moments, forcing us to pity and feel for characters that lack genuine effort. We cannot be made to care about a story we don't fully comprehend, nor can we care about characters if we've only known them through superficial descriptions and cheesy one-liners during scenes set up to feel as though we're in an iteration of "almost, maine."
A significant chunk of dynamics within the scenes plays on the idea of their physicality being their stark difference. an alternative guy and a preppy, popular girl. the nerd and the philosopher.
I've found very few characters hold any genuine chemistry, which is painful considering this whole play's growing theme is this idea of community bringing people together in times you'd least expect it. Whether through mourning or friendship. Through new beginnings, and not-so-happy endings.
Beyond that, this play attempts to tackle incredibly serious topics without any of the background needed. Racism, abuse, grief. All of which are given a single scene to debrief before we're onto the next. We see little of who these characters are beyond their pain. And when we are given scenes with genuine feeling or some actual character, it's soon overshadowed by the severity of the next scene, or the less-than-ideal chemistry between the two (or three, or four dependent on whose in).
I enjoyed the sillier scenes more than I did the serious ones. Brett and Charlie's opening, albeit oddly written were two comfortably awkward characters getting to know how it's nice to be alone together (even though I found it odd Brett had ignored Charlie in the opening sequence only to be hanging out with him in the intro, but I digress). It was sweet, simple, and a little cheesy nearing it's end. I liked that. The second scene as well! And that managed to slip into a more serious topic. Money, and how it can blind people. Make them ignorant, unaware of people's struggles.
Scene three is where you lose me slightly. It didn't read at all that they were close friends, rather just an overworked employee and their customer whose social awareness isn't the best. This scene tackled the bullying of Kai from years prior and how Cam felt defending them. Even though their friend was safe, they felt unappreciated. Intensive miscommunications until it burst out years later. I love those troupes. However, as the scene goes on, I find the sequencing confusing. The attempt for a kiss at the end, with the weirdly placed dance sequence? The crying? Why did every other character need to be directed to cry or laugh uncontrollably or anything of that matter?
Scene four is what pushed me over the edge and sort of made me lose interest entirely for a good few days. Scene four, unlike the others, needed to be handled with a special amount of care. For it tackles two serious issues in one. Racism and domestic abuse. I think it's important for plays to discuss real-world issues, even in fantasy. Our world's problems don't disappear even in an idealized society. However, if you are going to cover such topics, you should be educated in both departments. Whether it be through friends, peers, verified sources, etc. This scene does not read as such.
I mean, describing the experiences of a young black boy being painfully aware of his race and its effect on how people will see him as playing a video game is one of the craziest things I've read this year.
Another issue I had prior was also the sequencing. This remains as such here, as well. With Ricky finally admits the reason he came to talk to AJ is the fact his father is hitting his mom. Again. When this happens, he often hides at his friend's house, a mutual friend of both. It is there, his parents come looking and find him before the police come and he's forced to lie to them about what happened. He doesn't want to leave his mom, and so, he lies. He tells them everything is fine. That no one is hit. That they are happy. But, after seeing this for so long, it becomes hard to lie, and so, he needed someplace else to hide. My question is - why did the mutual friend not contact AJ to see if he was home? If he could help? Why did he have to learn almost minutes later, after seeing a random guy enter his yard and begin talking about their choir practice? Why didn't their friend call him, and see if his parents would house him for the time being? This isn't as simple as a "meet AJ, he'll help you." This is domestic violence.
And it's painful to see how this was handled. One could argue the fact they're still in high school, they wouldn't know what to do, and lest opens the door to unconventional means of handling serious situations. However, as a *real* teenager, whose been in these situations before. We are well aware of the severity.
I wish I could say these were my only issues. However, it only continued as the play went on. I did enjoy some aspects of the story, with the ghosts in Dylan's basement and the genuine heartbreak that came from the breakup scene. But, I did not enjoy it enough for it to outweigh the negatives. 2 stars, solid.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 9, 2025
I really enjoyed this play. It was a sensitive, flexible representation of teens as I know them. It avoids many of the melodramatic, oversimplified characters that show up in so many teen plays. The characters here are allowed to be complicated, thoughtful, and beautifully incomplete. It is lovely.
January 20, 2022
Another "Almost, Maine" knockoff to be sure, but for teenagers. I actually liked this more than I thought I would, as I feared it would have an "After School Special" vibe. Calarco does have a knack for giving his teenage characters depth while allowing them to stay teenagers as well.
September 26, 2022
Could easily be brushed off as a knock-off Almost, Maine, but there’s something about the play’s celebration of young adulthood that is really special. The ending is a little cheesy, but for a play that is ideal for the winter holidays, the tone is perfect.
February 17, 2022
Delightful. I'll look forward to directing this one day.
March 2, 2023
A great play for high school theatre students!
July 6, 2025
I enjoyed it, but largely stereotyped and forced into a "woke" narrative. The Play would did have excellent scene transitions.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews