Playwright: Christopher Shinn. At: Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St. Tickets: 312-443-3800; www.goodmantheatre.org; $14-$45. Runs through: March 3
Our title character is a Dickensian waif whose T-shirt might as well read "self-destructive nerd," but the other sociopathic personalities in Christopher Shinn's play take awhile longer to identify, since our author tries to mislead us with lofty declarations professing his purpose to be exploration of bullying and suicide among gay college students. After we discern that his topic is being viewed through the framing device of a pulp-noir thriller, where nothing and no one is what they appear to be, it gets easier.
The coincidence of nearly all the significant characters being high-status gay people narrows the social boundaries expected of a university with an enrollment of 4,000 students, providing us an appropriately restricted universe. The winner's reward, surprisingly, isn't money so much as powernot ruling power, even if politics on this campus are rendered as high-stakes as national elections, but sexual power. Drew, the editor of the school newspaper, willingly violates journalistic ethics in pursuit of a juicy story, but his chief talent lies in his ability to seduce whomever he chooses. This includes star reporter Nicky, LGBTQ-club chairman Gabe, ex-student assembly president Tim and, a year earlier, the boy whose fatal jump from the library balcony failed to elicit the public response anticipated by opportunistic leaders looking for a rallying cause. Clearly, what is needed now is another, more-marketable, martyr.
So, is Teddy their perfect (literal) fall guy, after having been videotaped having sex in his dorm roomonce, covertly, by his roommate, and several times voluntarily, via his own computer, for the enjoyment of online voyeurs? Shinn teases us with hot-topic motifsabundant male-on-male smoochies, a conference with the university president (who harbors ambitions of running for the U.S. Senate) bringing together a panel of diverse op-edsbut no amount of decorative window-dressing can disguise a plot propelled by the remorseless machinations of hypocrites distorting facts in order to exploit tragedy for their own personal gain.
The schemes of slimeballs can still make for entertaining drama, and director Evan Cabnet's cast of attractive actors acquit themselves with earnest solemnity in their generic roles. This doesn't absolve Shinn of attempting to manipulate us as cynically as his pragmatic predators do one another. When the clueless closet-bisexual recoils from the corruption of his gay constituency, only to be consoled by his savvy girlfriend with the equivalent of "Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown," we cannot help but resent the bait-and-switch foisted upon us.