I've been a big fan of the Laguna Playhouse for quite a few years and this is my favorite production to date. Playwright Lissa Levin crafted a creative, fresh masterpiece and has done a masterful job of weaving audience asides and cheer routines in an out of the play to keep the engine purring down the tracks of this classroom comedy. Julia Duffy appears to be born to play this part of a High School English teacher in the last few days of her teaching career who is exasperated, frustrated (in more ways than one) and ready to embark on her real estate career. BUT she has one more challenge before calling it quits and his name is Joe Marks (Nick Tag), the star power forward of the basketball team headed off to North Carolina in his brand new Subaru to be a Tarheel. Comedy ensues when Miss Edwards (Duffy) intercepts a note from Marks to his Cheerleader girlfriend Hannah, deftly and athletically played by Alexandra Johnston. It's worth the price of admission just to soak in the Cheerleading routines, which are written to add emphasis to the plot-line. The note is a crudely written attempt to ask Hannah to have sex with him and it is written in a way that I cannot share with you right here. The note also included a question for an answer on the final exam, but that isn't what set Miss Edwards off. You'll have to see the play to get the answer to that. If you're prudish about language then this probably is not the play for you, however the standing ovation at the end of this performance would seem to indicate that nobody in this audience had a problem with it.
