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'Good boys and True'

By Matt Windman

May 27, 2008

Brian J. Smith and Christopher Abbott star in "Good Boys and True", a drama about a scandal at an all-boys prep school which forces a mother to confront the truth about her son.

At first glance, the plot of Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's drama "Good Boys and True," which concerns a sex tape that is found on the premises of an all-boys Catholic high school, feels less than shocking. After all, it's been four years since the online premiere of "One Night in Paris." Perhaps that is why the play is set in the late 1980's.

However, what actually makes this a compelling drama is how the playwright transcends the surface plot to reach more universal concerns about class privilege and man's inhumanity to man. Here, that is depicted in Brandon (Brian J. Smith), the rich, broad-shouldered, charming 17-year-old alpha male who made the sex tape without the knowledge of the young girl who participated in the act.

Once his mother Elizabeth (J. Cameron-Smith), discovers that it was her son who starred in the illicit film, even after he lied to her about creating it, she is more disturbed to learn that he feels absolutely no remorse over how he humiliated and perhaps raped the girl on the tape. It turns out that he has been too tainted by a background of power and privilege and "greed is good" philosophy to be able to care about anyone below him on the social hierarchy.

Scott Ellis' cinematic production benefits from both the lean, mean style of the playwright's text, a strong ensemble cast, and a creative set design where the stage is completely covered by rows of shining athletic trophies, underscoring the need to succeed no matter the cost.

J. Smith-Cameron, in particular, delivers a nuanced, deeply felt performance as the boy's mother, who is rocked and shocked out of her enviable lifestyle to reluctantly admit that he failed to teach her son any sense of social responsibility, allowing him to turn into a monster. Her character ends the play by swearing that she will make him atone for his bad deeds and restore his humanity.

Second Stage, 307 West 43rd St, 212-246-4422, $15-70. Tues 7pm, Wed 2 & 8pm, Thurs-Fri 8pm, Sat 2 & 8pm, Sun 3pm. Thru Sun.