KIDS 'OUT OF CONTROL'

Meet the out-of-control students of Wilton High School. There is Ryan, the
popular, lacrosse-playing, weekend binge drinker.

And there's Jessica; the pretty blonde who seems to have it all, including
a drug habit and a promiscuous way with most of the popular boys in the class.

Then there's Johnny. He was a B student whose life went to pot after he
started smoking marijuana. And Sarah, the overachiever, who abuses
Adderall, a prescription drug used to treat attention deficit disorder, to
help her stay competitive.

These kids really don't exist. They are characters in a new play written by
Fairfield writer and drug educator/counselor Barry Halpin. A cast of real
Wilton High students will perform Halpin's piece tonight at Stamford's Rich
Forum.

The thing that's intriguing about "Out of Control" -- a work Halpin set in
a rehabilitation clinic -- is that its youthful cast says that there's not
a lot of artistic license at play.

If anything, they say, the ensemble piece is a bit restrained when it comes
to exploring the realities of drug and alcohol use and abuse by suburban
high school students.

"This is by no means autobiographical," says Tiffany Blake, a 16-year-old
who plays the addicted temptress Jessica. "I'm definitely not my character,
but I certainly know people like her. They go to this school."

Fellow cast member Sarah Kate Feiber, also a Wilton High sophomore, agrees.
"We know all these people," she says, "or at least someone a lot like
them." Adds Blake, "You could probably write this play about any high
school in Fairfield County."

If you're at all naive, that may come as a bit of a shock. But it's real.

"Every single problem mentioned in the play is one we've seen here," says
Daniel Raposa, a senior who plays Johhny, the listless pothead suffering
from arrested social development. "And you know, those characters (the real
students) are not in rehab. They are not getting help and their problems
are not getting resolved."

Playwright Halpin, a Fairfield resident, collaborates with Wilton High's
theater arts students as part of his work with LMG Programs, Inc., a
Darien-based substance abuse health care agency that specializes in prevention.

Although he wrote the original "Out of Control" script, he says the cast,
along with their teacher, Bonnie Dickinson, made important contributions
during the rehearsal process.

"They had a lot of say about the dialogue and we listened," says Dickinson,
adding the students encouraged bold dialogue and character development.

That includes supporting the inclusion of a character, Michael, who is gay
and does something drastic and devastating after his father doesn't accept
his coming out. Dickinson notes, "It would be a big deal to come out at
Wilton High. So to even include that character showed some courage."

The students say that even though the relatively hip Halpin, the married
father of 16-year-old twin daughters who usually sports jeans, an earring
and black T-shirts, did a good job conveying the lives of contemporary
teens, there were occasions when his script made them wince.

"You know you don't want to sound dorky," explains Raposa. "So we would
tell him, 'No way we would ever say that' and we would change the dialogue."

Halpin says he was happy to abandon his writer's sense of ownership for the
sake of authenticity. His only edict: "It's a school. We had to keep the
cursing to a minimum," he says. "But I wanted it to be real."

The play has already been performed for the entire Wilton High student body
and to an audience of parents, with great response, says Dickinson.

What impressed the students the most was the reaction from adults, who
during a question-and-answer session following the performance, seemed to
treat the student cast as "experts" and looked to them for advice on
raising their own kids.

"We're not experts," says Raposa. "So it was a little strange to have the
parents treat us that way." Adds Blake, "They kept asking us what they
should say and do."

Halpin notes that while the teens don't see themselves as experts, "To the
parents they are. They get their generation. It's just like the changes
they made in the dialogue. It may not have sounded dorky to me, but it did
to them. They have a better idea of what to say and what to do than they
think they do."

The chance to perform at the Rich Forum this weekend is a thrill for the
student thespians. Halpin, who has an ongoing creative relationship with
the Rich Forum, was able to make arrangements for the regional performance.
He credits Stamford Center for the Arts for making the students welcome as
part of Executive Director George Moredock's quest to encourage
community-oriented programming.

"A lot of us have some interest in the theater," says senior Andrew Sell,
who plays Ryan, the car-crashing, hard-drinking jock. "So the chance to
perform on a real stage is a thrill."

"It's kind of intimidating, but it's awesome," says Blake, who like other
students says he hopes for a decent crowd despite the competition from
Father's Day activities.

"Out of Control," a one-hour play, will premiere at Stamford's Rich Forum,
307 Atlantic St., tonight at 7. Tickets cost $10, $5 for children 12 and
younger. Tickets may be purchased from the theater box office, by calling
325-4466 or online at www.onlyatsca.com.