October 6, 2004

Teenage Wasteland

"Around the Way Girl" Opens

Not so fun: looking back at your own adolescence. (Unless memories of interlocked braces, untimely breakouts, and social humiliations are your thing.)

Way more fun: looking back at somebody else’s.

Which is why you must see Around the Way Girl, Nina Werman’s hilarious one-woman show about her experiences on Friendster. While surfing the once-obsessed-over-by-all Website, Nina reminisces about her very Jewish, absolutely hysterical upbringing in the Valley (note the “818-represent” mention on her Friendster page). She strived to be gangsta. She dressed in baggy clothes and freaked her dresser while listening to hip-hop (LL Cool J’s “Around the Way Girl” was her obvious fave). She struggled to break free from her parents (who called her breasts “pokies,” ate leftovers every Friday, and wanted Nina to marry a nice Jewish boy). And she endured catfights, battles with nemesis Mary, and multiple boy-dramas.

Her reenactments will have you doubled over with laughter. But there’s more to it. As Nina looks back, she is forced to come to terms with her choices and actions: The play ends with her sitting down to coffee with the once-hated Mary. So it’s not only fun; it’s also got a message.

Which is more than you can say for your own youth.

“Around the Way Girl,” Shelton Theater, 533 Sutter Street, between Mason and Powell Streets (415-756-3102). To purchase tickets, go to ticketweb.com.