Teenage Wasteland

From Austin Improv Community Wiki


Teenage Wasteland was the October 2015 student mainstage production at The Hideout Theatre. It depicted an end-of-high-school party à la Can't Hardly Wait.

Summary

Typically the whole cast played every night. Before each show, the performers would mingle with the audience and talk to them about their (the audience's) experiences in high school. The cast would use these stories to inform their characters for the night -- they would play somewhat heightened teen archetypes. The show proper would begin with three character monologs, done in the style of a video yearbook. Then the rest of the performance would be a monoscene from the 'Big Party', not focusing on any particular character -- different characters came and went over time. The pace varied between slow, grounded scenework and more fast-paced party games (Truth or Dare, Spin-the-Bottle, etc.). The show included a ten-to-fifteen-minut intermission.

Performers dressed each night as various high-school stereotypes. Lighting was pretty straightforward (lights up and lights down), while scoring was based on 90s alternative artists like Eve 6 and Blink 182.

Publicity Blurb

From the show announcement:

"Inspired by teen comedies like Can't Hardly Wait and Dazed and Confused, Teenage Wasteland follows one group of students through the events of the 'Big Party' where secrets are revealed, roles are reversed, revenge schemes are hatched, and loves are confessed."

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