THE STORIES: Fun deals with the determination of two bored teenagers, Casper and Denny, to seek out a good time in their small city environment of tacky shopping malls and fast-food outlets. Told in a series of short, fast-moving scenes, with biting, staccato dialogue that subtly captures both the laid-back, pseudo-sophistication of the boys and the ennui which underlies this, the action of the play follows them, boom-box in hand, as they move from one suggested locale to another in search of excitement, sex, booze, drugs, or whatever might move their lives off dead, boring center. Picaresque in style, the play is both very funny and deeply revealing of the angst besetting much of modern American society. (6 men, 1 woman.)
The second play,
Nobody, examines another aspect of our troubled times when Denny's father, Carl, loses his well-paying factory job. Again the playwright uses the technique of short, interrelated scenes to follow Carl's downward spin as his self-respect is steadily eroded—his family life plunged into turmoil, he finds himself falling in with a group of bitter malcontents, and his growing despair leads to drinking, violence, and the eventual destruction of his marriage. In the end he does find another job but, by this time, his dreams are shattered—and, sadly, all it can mean to him now is the money it will bring in. (11 men, 2 women.)
