Theatre Review: Teenage Dick Shows What Is A Moral Disability
SYNOPSIS: TEENAGE DICK is a brilliantly hilarious take on Richard III, Shakespeare’s classic tale of power and lust. TEENAGE DICK reimagines the most famous disabled character of all time as a 16-year-old outsider in the deepest winter of his discontent: his junior year at Roseland High. Picked on because of his cerebral palsy (as well as his sometimes creepy Shakespearean way of speaking), Richard is determined to have his revenge and make his name by becoming president of the senior class. But as he manipulates and crushes the obstacles to his electoral success, Richard finds himself faced with a decision he never expected would be his to make: is it better to be loved or feared?
From cerebral palsy to paraplegic, for some reason, when others see you cannot physically move the “normal” way or at all, then they presume your ambitions and emotional desires are handicapped as well. Written by Mike Lew and directed by Moritz Vin Stuelpnagel, Teenage Dick shows there is a difference between physically disabled and spiritually/ morally impaired. Unfortunately, our protagonist, Richard, is both.
Based off of Shakespeare’s King Richard III, Teenaged Dick takes place in what might be the home most vicious, power struggles in our nation: high school. Greg Mozzola’s Richard is everything Shakespeare would have wanted in actor for this role. When King Richard III came out, it was “revolutionary” because the lead was the villain, and, even worse, you liked him. Mozzola’s is a deviant charm; treating the crowd with a closeness you would an accomplice. You grovel and laugh at his nerdy ramblings of philosophical ideas and quotes, and happily ignore that this kid is mean. He may be focused on his social encumbrance, due to his disability, but he is, by all means, spiritually hindered. Yes, you pity this man that is viciously bullied by guys like Eddie (played by Alex Breaux). Yet, though Richard is suffered, he is also malicious.
From Marinda Anderson’s hilarious professor, Elizabeth, to Tiffany Villarin’s noble and powerful, Anne, Richard is surrounded by people that underestimate his emotional capacities, particularly for evil, because they forget he feels. Richard is brilliant, and picks up that people want to look charitable at their own ignorance. For instance, Anne teaches Richard how to dance, choreographed by Jennifer Weber, to get back at her ex and look good/ relevant in front of her ostracizing classmates. Her eagerness to be seen, unfortunately, turns her into a plot point for Richard’s wicked plans; something that Anne notes in a show-stopping soliloquy that addresses Shakespeare’s tendency to use women solely as catalysts for men’s stories. Still, there are characters like Shannon Devido’s Buck and, again, Eddie that see RIGHT through Richard’s ploys.
The good thing about Wilson Chin’s set is that its hallway of lockers places you right in the heart of high-school, and amps your attention to the riling motivations and minds of these kids. Breaux’s Eddie is 100% a jerk, but he is also surprisingly compassionate. Like most high-school jocks, caring about others seems uncool, but his brief dance with Buck and his love for Anne explains, in a way, why he hates Richard. He knows that Dick is a horrible, self-pitying human being whom uses his disability to veil his viciousness, and, frankly, people fall for it because they carry their own. Devido’s Buck may be the funniest, most sarcastic character, easily stealing scenes with her easy presence, but she also sabotages the future of Sasha Diamond’s Clarissa. Sure, the character may be annoying and have her own igniting ignorance, but does that mean she should be destroyed?
Every character in Teenage Dick plays a role in hurting another, but Richard is the only one that hurts them all, and he does it by using their desire to feel or look good to blind them over how to be be and protect good. Lew’s script is genius and can allude to so many themes that pertain to today; like our use of the needy to feel morally ascendant, while failing to actually see them as humans with emotional wants and needs. In a way, each of these characters has a sentimental need that is dissatisfied, but Richard does not want empowerment; he wants power, which is different and can be seen by how he diminishes the chance of love he has with Anne. Thus, in this Trump era, Teenage Dick shows you should never underestimate someone, especially when they keep telling you who they are.
Perhaps the Teenage Dick’s greatest impact is that, even the audience, who Richard confided his evils to, is, ultimately, surprised when he, actually, commits them. He told us, he showed us, and yet mouths were agape in shock when he commented his cruelty. Like Trump, Richard was thought too dumb or too irrelevant to be a threat, but never undermine how smart you become when you are trying to quench your thirst for power. To Buy Tickets To Teenage Dick Click Here.
The show is 1 hour and 45 minutes with no intermission.
It is playing at The Public Theater till July 15.
Located: 425 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10003
