KID DETECTIVE – Written by Weston Scott; Directed by Lexi Lazear. Produced by Shifted Lens Theatre (presented at the Roaming Gnome at 10255 East 25th Avenue, Aurora) through January 26. Tickets available at ShiftedLensTheatre.com.
Well, the Mean Girls are back in town and performing at the Roaming Gnome. But they aren’t Katie and Regina. They are Penny and Georgie, the teen detective and her sidekick. They have gained a tiny bit of a reputation at school by solving mysteries about missing rats, food, notebooks, etc. But then when all 17 of the police department’s detectives turn up dead, Penny Pepper comes to the rescue.
But it is immediately evident that Penny is in over her head. Not only was it discovered that a lot of her school mysteries would have solved themselves given time, it was also found that a little bit of fudging and bad blood often pointed the finger at a sometimes innocent boy that they just didn’t like.
In the adult world of politics and greed, the good people in Penny’s life become victims and the bad people become her mentors. Penny faces a hard truth about herself and who she has become in her desire to be smarter than everyone else. She is a changed person from the bouncy bubbly happy girl she was at the beginning to the cynical tough young adult she is at the end. But watching the truths of her delusions come to rest is a compelling journey.
Instead of being the young college graduate I thought Weston Scott might be, I find instead that he is a prolific playwright with a dozen scripts under his belt and a burgeoning career up and down the coast of California. The truth remains, however, that he has not forgotten what it was like in middle school and brings those terrible memories to life with authentic characters and sharp (sometimes hurtful) humor.
The Roaming Gnome Theatre is a little hard to find the first time you try; it’s on the corner of 25th and Galena. But you just have to trust that there’s a theatre off the open space in the middle of the building. It helps that they have painted the name on the outside since the last time I was there. It’s a little (sort of) primitive space that seats about 40 people – but it’s growing bit by bit and a great place for theatres who can’t quite afford their own space yet to spread their wings and learn to fly. Shifted Lens follows up their campy update of CRUEL INTENTIONS which re-imagined the original into a high school romp last summer. This similar outing turns Nancy Drew on her ear and says “Screw you!” I also have to commend whoever came up with their blood work. It was the best I’ve seen in a long time.
Another short run. If you like tales that tell the truth no matter how painful and adults playing kids and nailing it, come watch the gang from Shifted Lens do their thing. You won’t be disappointed.
A WOW FACTOR of 8.25!!