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Teen show aids growing up Photo by Steve Johnson Paul Garcia is lifted by fellow actors in the All the King's Men troupe during a skit at McLoughlin Middle School Thursday. Humor and song smooth out mature themes for boys By VICKI GUARINO A new theater group of young men is reaching back a few years to give younger teenage boys a bit of guidance about growing up. Public shows All the King's Men will have its community premiere later this month. The troupe will perform with Ophelia Rising, the theater group for teenage girls, in two public performances. Shows will be at 7 p.m. April 23 at the Smullin Center auditorium on the Rogue Valley Medical Center campus, at at 7 p.m. April 30 at the Unitarian Center, Fourth and C streets, Ashland. Programs address coming of age issues for boys and girls. Scripts are intended to reach middle and high school age audiences as well as adults. Admission is $5; middle school students will be admitted free. For additional information about the teen theater groups, sponsored by Planned Parenthood, or the shows, call 770-3330. And if the audience can laugh at the staged posturing of the bully, and the embarrassing turmoil of a young man stammering his way into a Friday-night date, that's even better. Treating serious subjects like sexuality and violence with a dose of humor is a big part of the show for All the King's Men. Actors ages 17-21, some students, some not, try to demystify the development of boys to men through skits and songs. The premiere public performances will come next week, but McLoughlin Middle School students -- boys mostly -- were treated to preview performances Thursday. Students seemed captivated by the show, saying it was funny, but that it also gave them a lot to think about. Seventh-grader Michael Torres, like most of the crowd, was most taken by a cluster of comical sperm debating responsibility for a teenage pregnancy. Recurring "Star Wars"-theme skits, ending in evil Darth Vader's unmasking as an irresponsible father trying to make amends, were hits too. All the King's Men also uses theater to show young men the pitfalls of playing roles to hide true feelings of fear, confusion and joy. By making everything from school bullies to crises of self-confidence laughable, the group hopes to put young audiences a bit more at ease about growing up. And too, more aware that growing up means growing into some weighty responsibilities. The actors, who were presenting their original material to an audience for the first time, were pleased and more than a little relieved by the crowd's response to the hourlong show. "They were reacting," said troupe member Jason Resendaul of Eagle Point. "They were open to what we were saying. I thought there would be more friction." The skits were written for young teenage boys, but girls and parents are welcome, and a few girls found their way into preview performances at McLoughlin. Much of the material for the show grew from discussions at a retreat weekend the troupe held several weeks ago, said All the King's Men director John Cole, a theater instructor at Rogue Community College. Skits were created around life experiences. The group, like other community teen theater efforts, is sponsored by Planned Parenthood of southwestern Oregon. The groups give players and their audiences the chance to reconsider some of the pressures and influences on their lives. A young women's counterpart to King's Men, Ophelia Rising, began touring over a year ago. The troupe explores issues of peer pressure, appearance, friendships and family from a girl's perspective. As the group toured, says Maggie Sullivan, Planned Parenthood's teen theater director, audience commonly asked for a similar program from a boy's point of view. Sullivan says grants were obtained from the Carpenter Foundation and the Oregon Community Foundation to fund the project. Young men auditioned early this year. Their performance at McLoughlin was arranged by drama teacher Kathy Dunn. Dunn was one of the supporters urging formation of a male troupe. She says teen theater delivers messages that middle school students listen to. "It stimulates a lot of thought and a lot of conversation," Dunn says. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA