Theater Review: Our Dear Dead Drug Lord

Playing with Ouija boards inevitably shepherds in dark forces. Or, at least that’s what the movies tell you. In Alexis Scheer’s new play, Our Dear Dead Drug Lord, four teenage girls put that theory to test.

The premise is this: in 2008, four girls who live in Miami and attend a private girls’ school are members of a club that has been suspended. The club is called the Dead Leaders Club. Each year, they pick a dead world leader to study. One of their controversial picks that they abandoned was Hitler. When we meet the girls, they’re continuing their club meetings, in a treehouse (gorgeously set-designed by Yu-Hsuan Chen) that belongs to one of them, while they pull together a plan to petition the school to reinstate the club. Their leader of choice for this school year? Pablo Escobar, the infamous Colombian drug lord. As part of their study of him, they plan to bring his spirit from the grave by using the Ouija board and some witchcraft they found on the Internet.

Playwright Alexis Scheer has created four very strong, believable teenage girls (who only go by their “club names”). There is the youngest club member, Zoom (Alyssa May Gold), who is unreliable in almost everything she says. She’s enthusiastic and quick to change her emotions. She claims she’s a virgin, but also had previously insinuated that she had had sex in the past. Squeeze (Malika Samuel) is a drama club member, too, so she’s into dance and boys. She flits from boy-to-boy. Pipe (Carmen Berkeley) is the ring leader. The treehouse is hers, and she comes from an upper middle class Cuban-American family. She’s the poster child for a “good” daughter to her conservative parents. She frequently goes head-to-head about the upcoming McCain versus Obama election with Squeeze (it’s 2008, after all!). And, as the play opens, a brand-new member joins their club: Kit (Rebecca Jimenez). She’s also a new girl at school, arriving from New Jersey. She’s a lesbian, incredibly self-confident, and has been raised by her single, Colombian mother.

The play itself is relatively quick (coming in at ninety minutes). The dialogue is quick and full of teenage thoughts. From teasing to needling each other, the actresses embody each of their characters really well and director Whitney White keeps them moving. There are some really true-to-life moments between each of the girls. Whether they’re exploring their sexuality or helping each other through the grief over losing a beloved family member, the actresses are all adept at surface-level presentation and deeper, emotional expressions. There is a particular dance scene that becomes a howl of grief for each girl that is incredibly memorable.

While Our Dear Dead Drug Lord begins as a seemingly fun romp through teenage girlhood and female friendships and relationships, the last third of the play takes a dark (and incredibly fast) turn. Without spoiling any of the twisted plot, the story turns frenzied, graphic, and has an ending sequence that makes a believable story a little unbelievable. What begins as a story about four teenage girls surviving traumas and facing grief they’ve experienced through deaths of loved ones turns into a bloody metaphor or manifesto about power and not feeling hindered by societal expectations. Perhaps if there had been a longer runtime to more fully develop the actions of each character, the ending would not feel so frantic or abrupt. But, despite that, the ending will ensure that Our Dear Dead Drug Lord will be a play not easily forgotten.

Our Dear Dead Drug Lord runs through October 27. For more information and tickets, click here.

Photo Credit: Jeremy Daniel