by Rachel Fershleiser

Left to right: Amanda Schwartz (Angel) and Dulce Jimenez (Marisol) Photo: Claudio Moya

rease it ain’t. This month, New York City teens are pursuing more sophisticated theatrical ambitions, as Abrons Arts Center’s Urban Youth Theatre presents Marisol, a surreal, post-apocalyptic play by Jose Rivera, author of The Motorcycle Diaries.

“It’s a very gutsy choice,” says Theater Program Coordinator Amy Blitz, who credits Program Director Steven Sapp with the decision.

For more than a decade, Urban Youth Theater has been nurturing the talents of young people to develop new voices in the American theater. Recent productions include Antigone and a modern day Red Shoes adaptation called The Red Sneaks.

Under Sapp’s direction, there’s been more emphasis on creating and performing new plays in the style of Universes, the professional theater ensemble he founded. The UYT’s last production, I am, was an exploration of identity written by the students and based on their lives and interviews with their families. The staff was impressed by the complexity the teens understood and could bring to the stage.

“Their work in ‘I am’ convinced us they could do Marisol,” Blitz says. “We looked at their acting and we saw—they get it.”

Fifteen-year-old Dulce Jimenez, who plays the title character, says it took a while. “The play is so interesting but so confusing,” she admits. “You have to read it more than once to understand. But when we started rehearsing, I got more and more ideas.”

Marisol is Jimenez’s first leading role. She was visiting family in Florida when she called Abrons, thinking she didn’t have a part. “Amy told me and I was so excited I couldn’t believe it. I kept telling her she was lying to me…”

In the play, 26-year-old Marisol appears in almost every scene, making her way through a nightmarish New York City after the angels have revolted against God. Fiona Chan, also fifteen, plays Marisol’s friend June. She has been performing at Abrons for years, debuting in The Wiz when she was nine. “This is really different,” she says. “Not everyone will have the same point of view about it.”

About ten more teen performers round out the cast, which rehearses several times a week in the Abrons basement. June 7-10 they’ll perform this unique Obie-winning play in the historic Harry de Jur playhouse.

“I’m nervous, but it’s going to come together,” the young star promises, eyes wide.

Henry Street Settlement’s Abrons Arts Center, Harry de Jur Playhouse, June 7- 10, for tickets visit abronsartscenter.org or theatermania.com.