By Ross

This is a very telling descriptive difference between these two fourteen year olds. Together, they give off a feeling of unfocused energy in their speedy delivery of dialogue, typical of girls their age. It’s a compelling first scene, and leaves you curious about what is going to happen to these very different girls.  At this point, not surprisingly, the stories veer off from one another, with a slightly off balance time sequence from the other. The unequal time frames reveal hints of what has happened before the have had the chance to play out with the other. It’s an interesting game, giving us foreboding clues, while suggesting that terrible things are coming. It definitely adds a much-needed layer of interest to a story that seems to take a long time to progress. The scenes shift back and forth, and as directed by the playwright, Schmidt, the off-sync overlapping narrative is clumsy without giving much advancement to the story. I would have liked to see what a different director would have done to the piece, as sometimes distance from the material breeds insight. The design is simple enough (scenic: Amy Rubin; costume: Tom Broecker; lighting: Jeff Croiter) but disconcerting and awkward in its actualization. Climbing over discarded props and clothes from the previous scenes that have no relevance in the moment is one complication, and having the two girls look at each other when talking on the phone is another. Both cause a disconnect in the believability and authenticity of the action. The momentum is erratic and disjointed, and over the course of this 100-minute play, so is our interest.

I’m not quite sure what the playwright/director is trying to tell us about teenage girls and the guys they set their sights on. The story follows the ever challenging and frightening dive these two girls make into sexual awakening and their thirst for womanhood. Both girls choose older, although we only vaguely understand why. Emily gushes over her high school crush, Adam (Alex Wolff), which seems more obvious and naively sweet. Jenny, the braver of the two (or some may say reckless) gets in the car with an older (late 20’s, just to be clear) guy, Joseph (Joe Tippett). Tippett (who was absolutely wonderful in PH’s Familiar) is definitely an appealing and handsome man; boyish while also being manly, and he brings the complicated soul to life here for the most part. But Breslin disappoints as her character is largely one note while also being annoying. Both choices find these girls way out of their safety zone, and there is definitely a feeling that something terrible is on its way. The path through sexual exploration in All the Fine Boys is not a place of safety or security for either of these two, but they both keep driving forward, oblivious to the warning signs on the road; one because of a young kind of love, the other for some kind of attention.

Little did I know, but the wearing of my Spring Awakening tee shirt was never more appropriate than that day. This story is all about the burning desire for love and attention from someone or anyone who can help these young girls along the road to actualizing womanhood. It seems to be one dangerous winding road. Emily’s plight is the most centered of the lot while Joseph’s uncontrollable desire and flaw seems believable and tragic. But the ones these two are paired with are either difficult to care for, or hard to believe in.  It makes for some lopsided scenes and some disconnected moments. There seems to only be one fine girl and a lot of messed up others.