28th Play - Super, or, How Clark Graves Learned to Fly by Gina Femia

Summary: "SUPER, OR, HOW CLARK GRAVES LEARNED TO FLY is about the shrinking of the middle class as seen through the eyes of a typical American Family –The Graves. Father Samuel has lost his once thriving construction business, forcing the family to downsize significantly. Each member is coping with their personal loss of power differently; Mother Mary is addicted to scratch-off lotto tickets, sister Dot cannot stop picking her skin, Father Samuel has gotten mean and Clark –well, Clark is trying to be everyone’s hero, including his new girlfriend, Laney. When Laney’s dreams of running away begin to seem like they’ll become a reality, Clark must choose between his family and his chance at happiness. Intercut with scenes from Clark’s comic book world, Super, or, How Clark Graves Learned to Fly explores the increasing hunger crisis as it spreads across America, asking the questions How do we learn to Fly? and What does it really mean to be Super?" (New Play Exchange)

Loved: I really enjoyed the shy flirtations of Laney and Clark. He was just such a dumb teenage boy struck by her, and it was so sweet to see them interact. I loved their bond over comic books. Also, it was nice to see him enjoying himself. Back home, he's helping everyone, trying to help Dot with her homework, cover for his mom by claiming the forbidden scratch-off lotto tickets were his, and confront his father about how he treats his mother. So, I loved seeing Clark find a place where he didn't have to help anyone. I also appreciated the ridiculous, over-the-top superhero montages, where no one takes themselves too seriously, and I really loved the "Epic Narrator Voice." Especially when Clark ** tiny SPOILER ** told him to shut up and that none of the superhero stuff was real. Telling him to shut up was pretty funny, although ultimately it's a sad moment for Clark, realizing that he can't actually save anyone. I also like that at the end of the play the most important relationship where there is some hope is the one with his sister, Dot.

What I didn’t Love: I'm always excited about a superhero play, but this one was a little disappointing. The superhero scenes are not written very well, which I get is intentional, but it's gone a little too far. Frankly, they were so stereotypical that I was kind of bored with them after the first one, since they didn't really further the plot that much. The story of the challenges of Clark and his family's life was way more interesting, but it was so relentlessly unhappy, that it was too depressing to stay very interesting. All we see is mean Dad, sad/obsessive Mom and poor lonely and clearly depressed Sister. Why should we care about these people? I mean, we do feel sorry for them, but in the way that you feel sorry for an unhoused person you see sleeping in the park. You don't know them well enough to care deeply about them. Also, *** SPOILER *** Clark's relationship with Laney completely deteriorates in one scene, which is a strange surprise. The clues that Laney has an eating disorder were there for us to see earlier, but everything is great at the beginning of the scene and then all of a sudden it's not, and she's screaming at him. And then what happens to her? Clark just leaves and that's the last we see of her. *** MORE SPOILER (big one) *** Another unpleasant “resolution” we get is Clark’s mother sitting on a bridge with his father begging her not to jump and the last thing the audience gets is some sound and lighting effects. Does she jump? Does Laney jump into the water? Does everyone die but Clark and Dot? I don't think so, but we don't know, because those characters just disappear. And the very ending? *** Even MORE SPOILER *** I appreciate that it's hopeful for Clark and Dot to be actively doing something to make their situation better, but ... digging through the trash for food at the local fast food restaurant is not something that's particularly better. It feels like the playwright wants us to have hope here, however, that did not feel like a positive hopeful step to me at all. Lastly, the "learning to fly" metaphor is used heavily in the whole piece, and obviously, the title. Clark believes that he can learn to fly because he just ... doesn't know that he can't? *** Yet another SPOILER *** And somehow Laney does learn to fly? I'm all for magical realism, but I just don't see enough reasons for her to learn that. Is it a metaphor for leaving? Dying? Or succeeding? I couldn't tell.

Overall: This play was just a little too confusing to me, and the superhero sections felt sterotypical and disappointing. The play's summary talks about the shrinking of the middle class, but I didn't quite get that theme from the play. It was clear that the family's fortunes had dropped considerably, and we did feel for them, but the larger political point, which is a good one, was not really made. Also, because we see so much of the misfortune of the family, we don't get to see much of the interesting human beings they are inside that misfortune, or at least were once. This makes us feel sorry for them, but only on a surface level. Although I did enjoy the sibling relationship of Clark and little sister Dot, as well as the shy teenage Clark falling for Laney, the other relationships didn't really work well for me. I felt like we didn't get any real ending for all of the characters except for Clark and Dot, and the "hopeful" ending for them left me not feeling hopeful at all. The metaphor of "learning to fly," which is used somewhat tediously in the play, was strange and unclear to me. Yesterday's superhero play also touched on darker issues, but the writing was smarter, funnier and much more clever, and the characters were just … more interesting.

Here’s a link to Google Sheets with more info about the play: Play a Day Sheet

Find out more about Gina Femia: https://www.americantheatre.org/2021/10/27/the-subtext-what-makes-gina-femia-run/