Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Else Went’s sprawling five hour INITIATIVE is messy and excessive, just like the high school experience it painstakingly depicts

• By drediman
• November 21, 2025
• No Comments

Also last night was the Off-Broadway opening of The Public Theater’s world premiere production of Initiative by Else Went (an alumnus of The Public’s Emerging Writers Group). Set in “Costal Podunk, California”, the often messy and gloriously excessive new play chronicles the high school experiences — from freshman year through to senior year — of a handful of students during the early to mid aughts (2000-2004). At a whopping five plus hours in length, the piece has “event theater” written all over it, following in the footsteps of durational theatrical experiences like Elevator Repair Service’s Gatz (also staged at The Public), the Royal Shakespeare Company’s legendary stage adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby, and Tom Stoppard’s sweeping Russian trilogy The Coast of Utopia.

As calmly directed by Emma Rose Went (the playwright’s wife), Initiative takes its time unfolding as it candidly delves in detail into the gritty and often traumatic occurrences of the intertwining lives of seven high schoolers, in the process depicting their coming-of-age struggles, confusions, and desires in with honesty and disarming clarity. Despite its hefty length, Went’s play — which is segmented into thematic chapters and judiciously spreads its attention amongst its characters, both in dialogue and projected instant messaging (such novelty at the time, the technology forever changes the way we communicate) — is actually easier to consume than its specs suggest. Indeed, much of its five hours fly by and is not unlike binge watching an involving television series. Even if play’s Dungeons & Dragons sequences are a bit gratuitous and allegorically heavy-handed and the play’s culminating tragedy doesn’t ring quite true (no spoilers here!), the playwright and director, as millennials themselves, have uncannily captured teenage angst and confusion — particularly as it relates to queerness and sexuality, at large — at the dawn of the new century.

Much of the acting by the excellent cast is introspectively pitched — at time conveyed only in hushed voices — which gives Initiative a level of intimacy that belies the work’s epic scope. It’s hard to call attention to any particular performances without the threat of diminishing their astonishing collective effort as an ensemble. Suffice to say, their truthful, fully-embodied portrayals ring out with authenticity and register far more than mere facsimiles (which is often the case in high school set plays). Even the bullies are thoughtfully portrayed in a three-dimensional manner that brings insightful coloring to their behavior. There’s no doubt that the singular final product has been the result of an extraordinarily close collaboration between writer, director, and their small but mighty company of actors.

RECOMMENDED

INITIATIVE
Off-Broadway, Play
The Public Theater
5 hours, 20 minutes (including two intermissions)
Through December 7