OKLAHOMA CITY – Locally based theater company Southern Plains Productions presents a limited run of the new play Dance Nation. A 2019 Pulitzer Prize Finalist for Drama, the play makes its Oklahoma City debut at the Civic Center, upstairs in the newly renovated Little Theatre, through August 17th.
Directed by Acadia Barrengos, Dance Nation features a hearty mix of local and visiting talent. This is perhaps Southern Plains’ heaviest locally-represented cast since it began productions in 2021. With this show, they begin embracing their identity as a truly homegrown theater company.
Dance Nation follows a troupe of preteen girls (and one boy) as they embark on several new ventures. As the lead-up to the big competition looms closer, the 13-year-olds face mounting pressure from all sides. The story explores ideas of societal expectations and the ever-evolving nature of adolescence.
OKC-based contributors to this challenging, avant garde work include Ronn Burton as Dance Teacher Pat, Ashley J. Mandanas as Connie, Cristela Carrizales as Maeve, Mariah Warren as The Moms, and Gianna Hoffman as Sofia. Visiting performers round out the cast and include Becca Carter Freeman, Grace Woosley, Trevyn Wong, and Annalisa D’Aguilar.
At times shocking, with moments that are equally hilarious and poignant, Dance Nation explores the beauty and raw power that accompanies growing up. It doesn’t shy away from, and at times brazenly attacks, complex, uncomfortable themes and uses brash language to drive home its point. Those who are faint of heart or don’t enjoy the more artistic side of theater need a fair warning. This show is unashamed to a fault.
Written by Clare Barron, a relatively new playwright, Dance Nation shows Barron’s inexperience the most by exploring too many partial ideas, unraveling themes and failing to explore them beyond initial commentary. By final bows, all the haphazard thread-pulling leaves the audience with something short of a full sweater.
The play is skillful in its chaos, instilling a thorough experience that is comparably confusing and incomplete. And it may leave dissatisfaction in its wake. While adolescence is assuredly a trying time in life for everyone, it should ultimately lead to the maturity of adulthood. The play, in this parallel, is lacking in that final closure. The messiness of the plot is fitting as it experiments and falters, but the show is missing a more mature conclusion.
While live works should always have life and breathability, they should spark conversation and open the eyes of the audience, not talk at them and disrespect their collective intelligence. There is a fine line between challenging and condescending, and the social commentary given in this show is straddling that line. For example, while certain profanities are used for shock value, they veer off into overuse territory and are jarring to hear from teenage characters, even when adults are portraying them.
This is no fault of the cast and crew. The team on this show is clearly trying their best to tell a story that is proud of itself, while remaining humble as technicians and artisans of their craft. They’re also enjoying the chance to shock the audience and shake the crowd out of its comfort zone.
The saving grace of this ambitious work are the monologues. The singular moments where individual characters share their inner lives are eye-opening, truly enjoyable moments of theater.
Mariah Warren and Ronn Burton are institutions in and of themselves in Oklahoma City theater. Both ones to watch and magnetic on stage, they’re the best thing about any show they are in. Smart casting decisions are made to include these performers, and the theater scene is lucky to have them.
Adults playing pre-teens is another interesting casting choice, and it fully illustrates the notion that deep down, we are all 13 years old and just trying to figure out life.
Dance Nation is enjoyable, thought-provoking and nothing if not entertaining. While its greatest gift may be sparking opinions, those who witness it will leave at least feeling something, whether they understand what it is or not.
Background
Now in its fourth year, Southern Plains Productions is a theater company born out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Founding Artistic Director Jackson Gifford and Company sought to make theater accessible and redefine the genre at a time when the performing arts had come to an abrupt stop. They’ve presented musicals and plays in Oklahoma City, using local and national talent, since 2021.
Adrienne Proctor is a theater and arts writer in Oklahoma City. She's been contributing to the arts reporting space since 2017.