{"id":109880,"date":"2025-10-19T12:39:36","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T19:39:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=109880"},"modified":"2025-10-19T17:12:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T00:12:19","slug":"dada-teen-musical-the-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/dada-teen-musical-the-play\/","title":{"rendered":"Dada Teen Musical: The Play"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Teen Angst Meets Creative Chaos<\/span><\/strong>
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\"\"<\/a>
\n<\/strong>Absurdity as Art
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What begins as an ordinary day in a high-school classroom soon explodes into a Dadaist free-for-all \u2014 absurd, tuneful, and unexpectedly revealing.
\n<\/strong><\/span>Central Works\u2019 latest world premiere is a hilarious, sharp-edged swirl of rebellion, chaos, and truth.<\/span>
Set in the manic world of high-school overachievers and art-school dreamers, it turns teenage turmoil into a full-blown Dada experiment \u2014 where nonsense becomes the only honest language left.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Setup<\/span>
\n<\/strong>A prep-school rebellion collides with the art of nonsense.<\/span>
Overachiever Annabel<\/strong> hatches a plan to impress Harvard by directing a \u201cDadaist homage\u201d to The Sound of Music.<\/em><\/span>
She enlists Tyler<\/strong>, the school\u2019s charismatic con artist, and Mariah<\/strong>, a shy bassist chasing authenticity, while Mr. Dorfman<\/strong>, their frazzled math-and-drama teacher, tries to keep order.<\/span>
As ambition curdles into chaos, scams pile up, morals bend, and Dada itself becomes both the joke and the truth.<\/span><\/p>\n

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What Is Dada?
\n<\/strong>Born in 1916 Zurich, the Dada movement rejected logic, reason, and artistic rules. It celebrated chaos, chance, and humor as acts of creative rebellion \u2014 a protest against a world that had stopped making sense.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
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Cast Highlights
\n<\/strong>Jacob Henrie-Naffaa<\/strong> (<\/span>Tyler<\/em>) steals scenes as a fast-talking manipulator who says anything to get his way. His energy is relentless and perfectly amoral \u2014 the classic hustler who thrives in confusion. At times, his delivery fires so fast that a breath or two more would help the humor fully land. Still, his bravado and control anchor the show\u2019s manic heartbeat.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Zoe Chien<\/strong> (Annabel<\/em>) gives ambition a comic edge. Her Harvard-bound intensity drives much of the farce, and her eventual unraveling \u2014 capped by a howling rejection \u2014 hits both funny and sad.<\/span>
\nChanel Tilghman<\/strong> (Mariah<\/em>) is the quiet soul of the story. Her final solo performance \u2014 literally playing her own song \u2014 is both moving and defiant, the evening\u2019s truest moment of art emerging from chaos.<\/span>
\nAlan Coyne<\/strong> (Mr. Dorfman<\/em>) grounds the madness with weary wit. His slide from moral compromise to collapse mirrors the adults\u2019 world the teens are rebelling against, giving the satire its human cost.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Director Highlight
\n<\/strong><\/span>Gary Graves<\/strong> directs with precision and abandon \u2014 a combination only Central Works can pull off.<\/span>
He keeps the tone wild but the storytelling tight, letting absurdity and honesty co-exist.<\/span>
Scenes spiral from classroom realism into bursts of absurdist theater, and the cast rides the chaos with fearless control.<\/span>
Graves\u2019s direction finds truth inside the nonsense, and laughter where it hurts a little to laugh.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Very Up-Close Theater<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n<\/strong>Central Works\u2019 49-seat City Club space turns this production into full-contact theater.
\nTyler<\/strong> literally jumps into the front rows. Annabel<\/strong> snatches her handbag from the railing beside my seat. The audience joins chants, cheers, and call-and-response moments that blur the line between viewer and participant.<\/span>
It\u2019s not just immersive \u2014 it\u2019s contagious. You feel pulled into their reckless, hilarious experiment, as if you\u2019ve become part of the Dada performance yourself.<\/span><\/p>\n

Adding to the mayhem, Tyler<\/strong> even handed out his own \u201cofficial\u201d promo flyer for a spin-off show, The Itch of the Sound of Oklahoma<\/em> \u2014 \u201ca professional, Dadaist, musical romp through the Old West featuring never-seen-before Dadaist Crocodiles.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a riotous parody of self-promotion, a perfect in-joke made tangible.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Delicious Uncertainty \/ Takeaway
\n<\/strong><\/span>By the end, all facades collapse. Annabel\u2019s Harvard dreams implode, Tyler\u2019s scams crash, and Mr. Dorfman loses both job and conscience. Only Mariah remains \u2014 standing alone, bass in hand, singing her own song. It\u2019s absurd, touching, and oddly inspiring: in a world of pretense, authenticity wins by simply existing.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Observation & Suggestion
\n<\/strong><\/span>The show\u2019s pacing is breathless \u2014 a strength that occasionally outruns itself. A few half-beats of pause between comic volleys could sharpen the humor and let its satire resonate.<\/span>
\nAnd those recurring \u201cCurve the Line\u201d<\/strong> hats? They\u2019re such an instantly iconic gag that they practically beg to become merch \u2014 wearable proof that Dada still sells.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Go see it \u2014 you\u2019ll be surprised — maybe even enlightened.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
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Catch It In Berkeley
\n<\/strong><\/span>Dada Teen Musical: The Play<\/em> runs through November 17, 2025
\n<\/strong>at the historic Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Avenue, Berkeley, CA.<\/strong><\/span>
Performances: Thursday & Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 7 pm, Sunday at 5 pm.<\/span>
Tickets: $25\u2013$35 (sliding scale)<\/strong> with Pay-What-You-Can<\/strong> preview opening weekend.<\/span>
For tickets and info, visit centralworks.org<\/strong> or call 510-558-1381<\/strong><\/span>
Runtime: approximately 90 minutes with one intermission.<\/strong><\/span>
Masks recommended; available at the box office.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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