From Up Here
Description
Teenager Kenny (Tobias Segal) is the cringing, ever-mortified center of Liz Flahive’s exceptionally skilled and affecting play, and he spends much of the time trying to placate his family and teachers, all of whom treat him as if he were a ticking bomb. (Kenny recently did something at school to earn this wariness.) Showing a surgeonlike precision for character giveaways and mood shifts, Flahive dramatizes the torments of domestic life, showing how the urge to escape can lead to violence and curdled rage. Under Leigh Silverman’s spotless direction, a perfect cast—led by Julie White as Kenny’s mom—does this smart, moving script justice by baring all.—David Cote
