Spread the Love: Pressure

This week on Spread the Love, we talk about Pressure, a drama by Lindsay Price.

Transcript

Welcome to Spread the Love. We are still in sunny Florida, The Florida Association of Theatre Educators Conference. And this week on Spread the Love we are talking about Pressure, and that’s pretty much what the play is about. Four teenagers deal with four different types of pressure in their lives.

Now, wait, wait, wait! I know what you’re thinking! You’re thinking that this is just one of those typical teenage angst plays. Those woe is me plays. But it’s not. I mean, I swear, would we lie to you? Would we give you typical teenage angst?

Craig!

Oh, sorry…

Hmm. Well, he’s right. It’s not your typical teenage angst play. It’s theatrical. It’s character driven. Some of the teenagers, they succeed with dealing with their pressure, and some don’t. That’s the way life works. Not everyone gets a happily ever after. So Craig, what do you think about Pressure?

Well, I want to talk about the theatricality of the piece. Now, the story of the play unfolds over the course of a week, and the action moves smoothly from scene to scene, from day to day. Lindsay uses the device of a small chorus to help guide this along, and the action of the play unfolds in just one smooth, easy, theatrical arc. Lindsay, what do you love about Pressure?

Well, Pressure is one of my earlier plays, and it’s gone through some transformations. Technology references… we started out with tape, then CD, and now I’ve got to change it to iPod. A little tip, for anyone writing: If you want to make your work timeless, never mention current day technology. It dates in a heartbeat. Now, having said that, what I still get to this day, even all these years later, is teachers telling me that it’s students who choose this play. That means that the story is still relevant, that the characters still resonate. And, I guess what it boils down to is that, technology can come and go, but teenagers still feel pressure. Some succeed with it, and some fail. That’s it for Spread the Love.