Teenage girls are so dramatic.
Sorry, let me fix that real quick: Teenage girls are so full of the rich spectrum of human emotions. And Broad Theatre’s production of Hungry Teenage Track Stars showcases that emotional depth fantastically.
There’s something about a big event – like, say, an overnight track meet – that riles up every possible feeling in the book. Anikka Lekven’s script uses this concept to show the emotional roller coasters of five girls in less than 24 hours. We join their journey, the pressures of the upcoming race condensing these girls into the shiniest, most multifaceted versions of themselves.
Hungry opens with Daft Punk’s “Doin’ It Right” – the first needle drop in a truly tasty soundtrack – as the girls prepare for the day. They daub on makeup or straighten their clothes, verbally massacring their own appearances, desperately trying to “do [feminine existence] right.” As they unite as a team to wait for the bus, their charge turns from timid doubt to the brash confidence every teenager would like to inhabit (and imagines everyone else has). Somehow, although these girls are teammates and not best friends, they radiate comfort. The chemistry between them crackles. These aren’t actors. These are honest-to-goodness bubbly, neurotic teens.
These aren’t actors. These are honest-to-goodness bubbly, neurotic teens.
Throughout the meet, the team faces physical and emotional injuries, with visceral oaths and raw screams. These girls get gross, in the most delicious ways. Physical comedy and bawdiness coexist here in a way that’s rarely seen, but always appreciated. It’s like a teenage Bridesmaids, investigating the relationship nuance while offering scatalogical showstoppers. Some of the teammates revel in sex and violence, showing the kind of unhinged exploration usually reserved for “boys’ locker room talk.” This perfectly proves that girls’ locker room talk isn’t that different. Ladies are fully capable of gross-out humor. They can get horny, and territorial, and aggressive. It’s all part of the glorious experience of womanhood.
To be clear, the cast is all grown adults. No actual youths were exploited in the making of this production. But all five actors on the track team expertly channel the specific combination of heightened overconfidence and intense self-consciousness of teenagedom. It didn’t take long to get lost in their high school malaise. Anger, love, anxiety, and joy are all right under the skin, threatening to bubble up at the slightest provocation. The actors owned that. Kayla (Shelby Surdam) and Sarah (Taylor Childress) were beautifully able to go from arguing about empathy to adorable sapphic yearning in less than 60 seconds. Haley (played on opening night by Alicia Romariz) goes from self-loathing to primo wingwoman in a blink. Alex (Amara Johnson) turns on a dime from discomfort to righteous rage. It’s emotional whiplash, as only certain hormones can provide.
Within those myriad emotions are topics weighty not only for teens, but for most audiences. Hungry is guaranteed to unearth some buried trauma, leaving the audience to marinate in uncomfortable moments of recognition. Who knows which story splinter will break off to pierce the soul? It might be in seeing anxious perfectionism chip away at self-worth. Or possibly in triggering conversations of weight and food intake – at one point, Coach’s (Travis Owens) voice can be heard yelling, “Earn that food!” during a run, and it’s enough to make one’s entire muscular structure shrivel in horror. It might be in the toxicity of achievement culture, or the value placed on physical beauty, or even in being willing to chase your own potential. Each girl’s burdens are familiar, which makes the cathartic breakdowns even sweeter.
From the beginning, there are glimpses of the power in female ferocity. As it’s unleashed, we see the joy in raging against an unfair system. This is about girls’ high school sports, but it’s tempting to reach for more in the message. Why couldn’t their race be life itself? Could their abusive coach be the voice of every negative authority? The voice of a ruthless God? At one point, the perfect overachiever Emily (Ariane Stier) crumbles under the “pressure of everyone’s expectations!” These track stars defy those expectations, but not by themselves. Each girl starts the play alone. By the end, they find the strength that comes through a supportive community. The power of female friendships, on full display.
Hungry Teenage Track Stars, presented by Broad Theatre
Through Oct. 12
This article appears in October 4 • 2024.
