Which is not to say it’s not a bumpy ride. That nailgun is not the only weapon that will be brandished before the evening is over.
“The Storytelling Ability of a Boy’’ — which, by the way, is an awfully clunky, insipid title for such a provocative work — is directed by Robert Kropf in a no-holds-barred style that is in keeping with WHAT’s edgy aesthetic and that is probably necessary for “Boy’’ to achieve its full effect. Kropf, artistic director of the Boston Art Theatre and a frequent performer on the WHAT stage (in fact, he’s playing the title role in the current production of “Cyrano’’), draws committed performances from his cast of three.
Dakota Shepard plays Caitlin, a new teacher seeking a fresh start. Caitlin left her previous teaching job, ostensibly because she was traumatized by a Columbine-style shooting that resulted in the deaths of three students and, eventually, the end of her marriage as she sealed herself off from her husband. “In this town, I’m not part of the story,’’ Caitlin says. “I like that.’’
But soon she is drawn into the turbulent world of Peck (Adam Foster), a precocious student with a gift for writing, and Dora (Bridget K. Doyle), his close friend, soul mate, and fellow social outcast. Peck and Dora speak a private, shared language that is an alloy of wit, irony, theatricality, cultural references (including a sexual fantasy involving — brace yourself — Luciano Pavarotti), cynicism about adults, hipper-than-thou poses, and, beneath it all, vulnerability and longing. A writer to his marrow, Peck narrates their lives even as they unfold; he likes to say, by way of a storytelling transition, “And then something beautiful happens.’’
