Good Boys and True

Our last production this year at the Second Stage Theater was Good Boys and True.  We ended up going on opening night which was fun from the people watching perspective.  Not that I knew many of their names but I recognized many faces and actors and actresses that we had seen over the years.  Nothing better than a good people watch.

As I have said in the past, I have yet to see a bad play at Second Stage.  The acting is always good.  The play is usually thought provoking and interesting.  They do a solid job.  I am absolutely signing us up again for next year. 

Good Boys and True centers around a scandal at a prep school in the Washington DC area.  St. Joe's which I gather is supposed to represent St. Alban's that is an all boys prep school in the DC area. 

The sex scandal is a discovery of a tape that shows intimate details of the supposed captain of the football team having abusive sex.  You can't see the boys face in the tape but the coach believes it to be Brandon, the football captain.  He bring in his mother.  The coach and Brandon's father went to St. Joe's together and shared in many of the behind the closed door goings on of years past.  The father is traveling so the mother meets with the coach. The mother, of course, can't imagine that her son was involved in such a scandal.

As the story unfolds, we learn that Brandon is having a relationship with another high school football player, Justin, who is gay.  Hence, the tape to undercover his fear of reality to the world that he is gay.

The whole story about the scandal wasn't what I liked about the play.  It was the underlying topics of the haves and have nots.  The girl that Brandon had sex with came from the local public school, the other side of the tracks, per se.  His friend, Justin, was the first of his family in a school like St. Joe's that he didn't particularly care for.  He wasn't part of the good old boys club, the net work, the air of privilege, the master of the universe syndrome. 

As we begin to watch our oldest daughter go through the college process and look at the choices we made with her for High School, the play is thought provoking. 

After we left the theater, Fred turned to me and said "that play is confirmation of why sending our kids to LREI is the best decision we ever made". 
blog comments powered by Disqus

Joanne Wilson Joanne Wilson loves food, books, and music. She lives in New York City. Her husband Fred and children Jessica, Emily, and Josh are bloggers too. More »

gotham gal updates

RSS    Email updates    Gotham Gal Twitter updates

ask gotham gal

Powered by Formspring.

books of the moment

  • Peggy Riley: Amity & Sorrow: A Novel
    A mother drives for days with her daughters and ends up in a random Oklahoma town after crashing the car. They come from a polygamous community where there were 50 wives. The mother had grown up knowing life outside that community. Over time, after leaving, she almost becomes deprogrammed. The realization of what she did to her daughters who no nothing outside the world they came from including how to read. Then there is the family that brought them in. It is a fascinating story. Well written. Worthy read.
  • Charles Graeber: The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder
    An amazing true story of a male nurse who was arrested in 2002. I actually remember the story as I followed it in the papers. This nurse was a serial killer who had probably murdered over 400 patients that were under his care. A seriously well researched book. Great read.
  • Meg Wolitzer: The Interestings: A Novel

    Meg Wolitzer: The Interestings: A Novel
    Wolitzer writes about a group of camp friends who all come from different walks of life (some on scholarship) as their friendships continue through their mid-50s. At the beginning the story seems trite but as you continue to read there is a lot of be said. The story is sticking with me. She makes the case that everything that happens to you from your childhood makes an impact on who you become or don't become. Worthy read.

  • Elizabeth Strout: The Burgess Boys: A Novel

    Elizabeth Strout: The Burgess Boys: A Novel
    Strouts last book won a Pulitzer. She focuses on family issues. I enjoyed this book much more than Olive Ketteredge which I found utterly depressing. This book follows two brothers and a sister who live in the shadow of their fathers accidental death. Like most siblings, all have turned out very different yet they are connected. I did not love any of the characters, like her last book, yet as The Burgess Boys moves forward and memories are revealed, it is an interesting perspective on human character.

  • Tamara Shopsin: Mumbai New York Scranton: A Memoir

    Tamara Shopsin: Mumbai New York Scranton: A Memoir
    Great book. A witty spare inventive personal diary of Tamara journey from Indian to New York to Scranton. Really really enjoyed the book.

  • Michael Lavigne: The Wanting: A Novel

    Michael Lavigne: The Wanting: A Novel
    An incredible book that tells the human side of the many layered issues in the Middle East. From immigrating to Israel from Moscow, to being a victim of a suicide bomber yet surviving, to being pulled into an Israeli radical group. Each character is connected. Very layered well written book. Powerful

  • Alessandro Piol: Tech and the City: The Making of New York's Startup Community

    Alessandro Piol: Tech and the City: The Making of New York's Startup Community
    A history of the Internet that I lived through. Great job of recording what happened.

  • Amity Gaige: Schroder: A Novel

    Amity Gaige: Schroder: A Novel
    Not sure how much I loved this book. A father loses his child in divorce and decides to kidnap his own daughter. He is not a stable person but he obviously loves his daughter. His own childhood has made him a disconnected human being. An interesting journey but not sure I'd recommend.

  • Ernest Hemingway: The Old Man and the Sea

    Ernest Hemingway: The Old Man and the Sea
    Classic.

  • Janice Steinberg: The Tin Horse: A Novel

    Janice Steinberg: The Tin Horse: A Novel
    a good novel that not only tells the tale of another dysfunctional jewish family in the early 30's but interweaves pieces of los angeles history throughout the book.