Punk Rock. Lucille Lortel Theatre (see Off Broadway). By Simon Stephens. Directed by Trip Cullman. With ensemble cast. Running time: 1hr 50mins. No intermission.
Punk Rock: In brief
Simon Stephens, whose The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is currently on Broadway, looks into the seething hormonal abyss of English teenage life in his provocative 2009 play. Trip Cullman directs for MCC Theater, with a cast that includes David Greenspan, Noah Robbins and Annie Funke.
Punk Rock: Theater review by Helen Shaw
You can answer the “Did I have a good childhood?” question by reasoning backward. Did it produce a good adult? If not, some part of it (you can reassure yourself) must have been rubbish. Simon Stephens’s British adolescent study Punk Rock can be judged the same way: It’s fine while deploying well-written teen-melodrama clichés, but flaws come out in its bad finish—carnage that’s unearned and untruthful.
The best reason to Rock is director Trip Cullman’s energetic young company. In a disused upper-form library, Lilly (Colby Minifie) flirts with Nicholas (Pico Alexander), Bennett (Will Pullen) bullies Tanya (Annie Funke), Cissy (Lilly Englert) torments Chadwick (Noah Robbins), and all are scrupulously well-observed. The only exception is, unfortunately, the trickiest character: troubled William (Douglas Smith), whose whiplashing arc cries out for an actor with technique. The show is glossy, diverting, cynical and, in its late turn, inept at engaging with actual teenage dysfunction. Let’s call it a near pass: high marks for effort but ultimately unsuited to the subject.—Theater review by Helen Shaw
THE BOTTOM LINE The kids are not all right—neither is the play.