GOOD BOYS by Carol Kaufman Segal

The Pasadena Playhouse is presenting the Los Angeles premiere of Good Boys written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacara and directed by Betsey Brandt.  Originally mounted as Good Boys and True, the playwright has refreshed the play and given it a simpler name. 

            

Good Boys take place in 1988 at an exclusive private boys’ school where Brandon Hardy (Ben Ahlers) is a student, as was his father, popular, athletic, good-looking, and smart.  His football teammate, Justin Simmons (Dylan Arnold) is a close friend as well as a secret sex partner, something Brandon never wants revealed.           

           

Brandon’s coach, Coach Russell Shea (James Carpinello), who is also a close friend of his parents, has phoned his mother, Elizabeth (Betsy Brandt) to come to see him at the school.  When he explains his reason for asking her to stop by, Elizabeth is taken aback.  He tells her that an alarming videotape was found on the campus that has everyone in the school talking about the couple in it having brutal sex, and though you can’t see the boy’s face, it appears to look like Brandon.  Elizabeth, vociferously, refuses to believe that it could possibly be her son, not Brandon!

             

By the time it is finally revealed that Brandon is the culprit in the video, the Hardy family’s lives are no longer the same.  Brandon has lost his close friend, he had lied until he finally admitted his guilt, but without any remorse for hurting another person he felt was not in the same world or as worthy as he  Through Coach Shea, Elizabeth finds out that her husband grew up with the same attitude about life and people.  Knowing that father and son are a mold of the same ilk, she realizes it is up to her alone, to deal with their shattered lives. 

            

Other characters in the production are Cheryl Moody, the girl who was looked down upon and mistreated by Brandon.  Fortunately, she appears strong enough to be able to get her life back to normal.  The night I saw the production Brett Cooper played the role.  Tamilla Woodward (Toks Olagundoye), Elizabeth’s best friend from their school years, offers her support to her friend in this trying time in her life.  Before the play actually begins, four Prep School Boys (Tristan Boesch, Bradley Cloversettle, Danny Cron, and Will White) open the production on stage by singing their school song.   The director, Carolyn Cantor, steers a very powerful cast through this memorable play.                       

            

Good Boys will continue at the Pasadena Playhouse Tuesdays through Sundays at 8 PM through July 21.  Tickets are available online at PasadenaPlayhouse.org, by phone at (626) 356-7529, or at the Pasadena Playhouse Box Office, 39 South El Molino Ave., Pasadena.

           

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