Young Dumb Broke High School Kids

Everything sucks for high school kids Bliss, Olivia, and Miles. Bliss is a dreamer but she's knocked up and knocked down, Olivia is a lover with no one to love her back, and Miles is an orphan who would kill to have a family. And together they sling back slushies, barf down chili cheese fries, and try to sort out their lives in the most dangerous ways. They're unloved and fucked up...and it's whatever.
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Young Dumb Broke High School Kids

Recommended by

  • Shaun Leisher:
    8 Dec. 2022
    A really great 3-hander about dreaming one's way out of their current situations.
  • Nick Malakhow:
    17 Jul. 2020
    Spectacular piece that made me nostalgic for the 90's and really captured a theatricalized "Gregg Araki vibe" brilliantly. The dialogue is just so well-crafted and so fun and, even in its cleverness, it does an excellent job of revealing character and propelling the plot forward. The whole atmosphere of Bliss, Miles, and Olivia's town--their peers, other adults, the surrounding environs--was crystal clear even though we only get to know these three humans. The punctuating monologues are honest, confessional, and illuminating. The piece feels so clearly theatrical, even while conjuring a specific cinematic moment in time. Fun, unsettling, insightful!

Character Information

  • Bliss
    16,
    Asian American
    ,
    Female
    A spitfire of a girl who makes herself the center of
    attention. She's a dreamer crushed by the realities of her dull and regular life.
  • Miles
    16,
    Male
    Bliss' boyfriend. He's sweet, sensitive, and comes
    off as an all-around nice guy. He loves really hard and will do
    anything for the people he loves most. It may seem like it, but
    he's not that dumb, he kinda just doesn't get it.
  • Olivia
    16
    Bliss' best friend. She's probably kinda really pretty. Fun, confident, loyal, and somewhat beyond her years.

Development History

Awards

Selection
,
Virtual Play Readings
,
The Matchbox Theatre
,
2022
Semi-Finalist
,
New Works Festival
,
Santa Monica Theatre Guild at the Morgan-Wixson Theatre
,
2021
Finalist
,
OC-centric New Play Festival
,
2018