Summer. Suburbia. Everyone is out having fun…except our 14-year-old hero, who in his pretentious precocity aims to write and stage the Great American Stage Drama. Even he gets distracted, however, once mom hires a hunky young handyman.
“Basically, it’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf meets American Beauty,” says the titular figure of his magnum opus Regrets of Autumn, a searing expose of the tarnished American Dream involving alcoholism, infidelity, and abortion. Rehearsals are just starting, but one senses the playwright probably already has that Pulitzer acceptance speech prepared. Trouble is…Griffin (Everett Blunck) remains as yet a pubescent suburban middle school student whose few friends and long-suffering mother (Melanie Lynskey) are already tired of his humorless devotion to the dramatic arts. While they reluctantly bend to his will, he faces distraction from "the work" this summer when mom hires young handyman Brad (Owen Teague, Eileen), who’s like a latter-day James Dean with better abdominal definition. Surprisingly, it turns out this monosyllabic hunk has theatrical ambitions, too. Nicholas Colia’s alternately hilarious and discomfiting debut combines an eccentrically singular coming-of-age (and coming out) story with elements of poignant insight.
Expected In Person Guest
Friday October 4, 2024 6:00pm - 7:30pm PDT
Rafael 3
