our story
A word from the playwrightThe heart and soul of this piece will always be the story of two teens on the precipice of seemingly limitless opportunity, confronted with endless questions that have no right answer. Wrestling concepts are more or less universal, coming up over and over again throughout our lives, but never more poignant than at the transition from childhood to adulthood. It is the nature of theatre to suspend the audience’s belief and bring the worlds of metaphor and symbology into contact with that of naturalism and realism, encouraging audiences to be more than just spectators and inviting them to grapple with the same questions even after they have left the stage behind. The freedom to play in this piece in particular, to make it work in service of the audience in a timeless manner, is essential and, in my opinion, can only be thoroughly achieved through theatrical means.
The Text
Born from Grech’s own experiences with his high school best friend, Awaiting Evaluation encapsulates the quintessential modern absurdist comedy, delicately plucking at the possibility of tragedy during adolescence. The absurdism in this piece grounds itself in Sid and Ali’s meaningless existence — the responsibility, potential, and adventures of adulthood are being dangled in front of them but the repetitive entrapping nature of school keeps them frozen in childhood. Their lack of purpose gives birth to the comedy in their friendship and doesn’t give into the tragedy of their existence. It’s in this possibility of tragedy that we find the boys rising to be each other’s witnesses of life and choosing to save each other from giving up. Grech’s beautiful crafting of his characters reminds us not only that our choice defines our existence, but that our choice in the company we keep — someone to triumph or make mistakes with — truly makes our lives worth living.
From Page to Stage
In 2017, at an international boarding school in regional Australia, Alex Grech was finishing high school. In their spare time, Alex and his best friend worked on what would become the first version of the script.
Over the years, Alex would always be drawn back to this script. It grew with him, and by the time he had moved to New York and graduated from university, it had become something else altogether.
Awaiting Evaluation has evolved through many iterations throughout its conception. The current version's earliest portrayal by actors was through workshopped performances with Abby Hricik and Ry Patten in the roles of Sid and Ali, respectively. Abby and Ry were the first to bring these characters to life, adding new depth and interpretation to the writing. Their early character work was an indispensable opportunity to collaborate with trusted actors to further shape the play's world into its current form.
What’s Next?
Fun fact, but Awaiting Evaluation is originally written as a two-act script with an epilogue! While performing a condensed one-act version of the play at the New York Theatre Festival and Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the ultimate goal is to produce the full piece as envisioned by Alex. By capitalizing on the media and industry presence at Edinburgh Fringe Festival, we aim to garner the publicity required for Awaiting Evaluation to be produced in full by an international theatre company or bring the production back to New York City with enough momentum and attention to produce an Off-Broadway and eventual Broadway debut.