The Rock and the Ripe

The Rock and the Ripe by Mark Blane

a play exploring anti-queer bullying about youth…for adults

Hetrick Martin Institute with Rosie’s Theater Kids

Directed by Kristin Rose Kelly and Mark Blane

This special performance was supported in part by Rosie’s Theater Kids and Hetrick-Martin Institute attended by a selection of young artists, students, and LGBTQ identifying individuals from both institutions.

Post Show Workshop discussed gender norms, and inclusivity in our public schools lead by creator/director Mark Blane, Licensed Drama Therapist Rebecca Elkin-Young, and teaching artist/director Kristin Rose Kelly.

Synopsis: Set in a tiny waiting room outside of the principal’s office, six young people await their conviction…uh-I mean punishment. Billy would not remove his favorite jacket during his history class. JJ has one dirty mouth that gets them in to it with all the other kids. One of them is a cute mute, and Erin is wearing a tiara…we don’t know why she is there. Calvin seeks help after having gum put in his hair time and time again, and Brendan’s been playing a mean prank on a boy in the bathroom.

Much like a cake that is half The Breakfast Club and the other half No Exit, THE ROCK & THE RIPE is frosted and layered with humor, tragedy, and mystery. This work is a ‘new-age’ The Laramie Project that takes real-life information and stories and mashes them all together to bake a mix of outcasts, misfits, and the misunderstood.
Chaos meets desperation in this fresh new play.

What really happened to each youth? How are they all connected? And what is inside the Principal’s office that makes them so scared to open the door?