USC Aiken Presents Contemporary Comedy

Ernest Prescott contributed to this story

Aiken, SC (03/05/2020) — The University of South Carolina Aiken Theatre Department presents Speech & Debate, March 26-29, in the Etherredge Center.

Tickets are $15 and $8 for students. To purchase tickets, go to: www.usca.edu/etherredge-center or call: (803) 641-3305.

The play chronicles the unlikely friendship of three misfit teenagers and their relationship with the adults in their lives. They find acceptance and solidarity when they form a speech and debate team.

The production includes mature content.

"The play is interesting because it deals with real life issues, interconnecting secrets, and how the characters deal with all of it," said Jesus Ramirez, a theatre student who plays the role of Solomon in the show.

"Being based within the LGBTQ+ community, it touches on some of the struggles those within the community have to go through while, at the same time, putting a comical spin on it."

Audience goers say the show is both hilarious and controversial.

According to Variety, Speech & Debate, written by Stephen Karam, is "…[A] savvy comedy…bristling with vitality, wicked humor, terrific dialogue and a direct pipeline into the zeitgeist of contemporary youth…Karam has a keen ear for how teens talk, move and think, how they view each other and the adult world … and uses both the advantages and perils of cyberspace to make amusing, original points…"

Playwright Karam was a three-time winner in The Blank Theatre's Nationwide Young Playwrights Festival in 1997, 1998 and 1999. The Roundabout Theatre Company produced Speech & Debate in October 2007 at The Black Box, after a workshop at Brown/Trinity Playwrights Repertory Theatre in Providence, RI, in 2006.

In Aiken, the show is directed by Dewey Scott-Wiley, a professor in the USC Aiken Theatre Department. Fellow professor Chet Longley is designing the high school-based set for the show, which critics say cleverly depicts the teenaged experience.

New York Newsday says Speech & Debate is "A strong, rangy play…beautifully nails the indirection and crossed-wire communication of teenagers bubbling over with contradictory needs and insecurities."

The USC Aiken production of Karam's Speech & Debate features:

Jesus Ramirez as Solomon, a student-reporter for the school newspaper
Caleb Fairchild as Howie, a new student to the school who is solicited by the school's drama teacher
Chloe Towne as Diwata, an aspiring actress and singer who cannot get cast in one of the high school's drama productions
Julia Evans and Julie Reibsome are also part of the cast.

Speech & Debate will be presented March 26, 27, and 28 at 7:30 p.m., and March 29 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15; student admission is $8. For tickets, go to: www.usca.edu/etherredge-center or call (803) 641-3305.

Media Attachments

USC Aiken Presents Contemporary Comedy

The University of South Carolina Aiken Theatre Department presents Speech & Debate, March 26-29, in the Etherredge Center. Tickets are $15 and $8 for students. To purchase tickets, go to: www.usca.edu/etherredge-center or call: (803) 641-3305. The play chronicles the unlikely friendship of three misfit teenagers and their relationship with the adults in their lives. They find acceptance and solidarity when they form a speech and debate team. From left, Jesus Ramirez who plays Solomon; Chloe Towne who plays Diwata; and Caleb Fairchild who plays the role of Howie are featured in the show.

USC Aiken Presents Contemporary Comedy

The University of South Carolina Aiken Theatre Department presents Speech & Debate, March 26-29, in the Etherredge Center. Tickets are $15 and $8 for students. To purchase tickets, go to: www.usca.edu/etherredge-center or call: (803) 641-3305. The play chronicles the unlikely friendship of three misfit teenagers and their relationship with the adults in their lives. They find acceptance and solidarity when they form a speech and debate team. The production includes mature content. From left, the show features Chloe Towne as Diwata; Jesus Ramirez as Solomon; and Caleb Fairchild as Howie.