Jane Elias’ wonderful GIRL IS MINE is full of familiar plot elements taken in unexpected directions, littered with proverbial Chekhov’s Guns that resolutely, stubbornly, and delightfully keep not going off. A uniquely close relationship between a teacher and teen student sets off alarm bells for the people in their lives (and in the audience), but nothing here is as simple - neither as guilty nor as innocent - as any of them think it is. A quirky and questioning spirit animates this humane, sad, hilarious, and refreshing play.

Is there anything more fundamentally Gothic in the American experience - more grotesque, marked by heightened emotion, and haunted by the weight of the past - as high school? Jane Elias makes a smashing case in GIRL IS MINE, armed with the knowledge that a true Gothic heroine (or playwright) can only succeed by embracing the ambiguity and the dark corners of humanity. A disturbing, enigmatic delight.