4th grade was when my love of theatre began. At age 9, my friend Tracy and I wrote a play called “The Two Little Blue Riding Hoods”. It was a dark comedy inspired by the fairy tale and our outerwear. We replaced the wolf with a giant chicken and thought we were so hilarious the whole school needed to see it.
Once upon a time, long, long, ago, I co-wrote and performed a play without any plague of self-doubt or procrastination. Definitely sounds like a fairy tale.
There’s something incredible about the plays children write, rehearse, and unabashedly perform in front of the entire school. Is there anything more genuine, adorable, hilarious, and horrible all at the same time?
I saw a weird, wonderful play last week that was all about exactly this (and so much more).
The Fourth Graders Present an Unnamed Love Suicide
That is the title of Sean Graney‘s dark tragicomedy. Presented by Alexis Confer and a superb cast and crew, it is halfway through an Off-Off Broadway run at the Access Theatre.
There was a familiar feeling the minute I entered the theatre that was slightly unnerving. Director Jonathan Schlieman seamlessly makes his stage a school assembly, down to small details – the sounds, the fluorescent lights, the inevitable technical difficulties. Immediately the audience feels: you’ve been here, you are here, you know this. When was the last time I thought about an elementary school presentation? Lord knows. But those memories are there and this play does a spectacular job of bringing you back to a comfortable, familiar place…only to fuck it all up in the most disturbing and yet…delightful ways.
Down to the awesome details of the set.
You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll gasp, and maybe even get a fruit snack.
“The Fourth Graders Present an Unnamed Love Suicide” savors contrasts like 4th grader Johnny savors every sip of his juice box. Tragedy and Comedy. Grown Adults playing Young Children (with great success and nice balance of absurdity and realism, kudos to the actors and director). The comforting, familiarity of the school atmosphere juxtaposed with haunting, eerie music written by Music Director Tom Lee. Other-worldly, creepy music that is all played by the cast on cute children’s instruments – a toy piano, a glockenspiel, a ukulele. Friends and Enemies. Boyfriends and Girlfriends. Tortoises and Hares. The contrasts fade to murky grays by the time we get to Fact and Fiction.
4th Graders and Suicide!? You can’t understand how weird and wonderful and well performed it is unless you see it!
Wednesday April 11 – Saturday April 14th all shows at 8pm, Sunday April 15 at 3pm at the Access Theater, 380 Broadway in Manhattan. You can buy tickets here.
The excellent cast features Ari Shapiro, Amelia Windom, Ellen Cheney, EmJ Nelson, Erin Marsz, Motomi Tanaka, and Ted Serro.
Disclaimer: no one asked me to write this post. I wrote it because I was impressed with this production and think it’s worth seeing! But I did attend because I know a couple people involved in the production.
