The Blank Theatre has just scored another West Coast premiere in Stephen Karam’s Speech and Debate. The Blank premiered Karam’s very first play when he was only 17. Karam went on to be a three-time winner in the Blank’s Nationwide Young Playwright’s Festival, and has since debuted Speech and Debate at the acclaimed Roundabout Theatre in New York. So it seems a natural fit that this critically acclaimed play should land on The Blank stage.

The play is a funny yet pointed study of three teenage misfits trying to find their sexual and social identities in a hypocritical world. It begins with Howie (Michael Welsh) having a very funny online chat on one of the Internet's many gay chat lines. Next up is Solomon, played by Aaron Himelstein, who was so good in the Blank’s Dickie And Babe: The Truth about Leopold and Loeb. He discovers that his would-be partner is none other than his high school drama teacher. Finally, we meet a crazed wannabe actress, Diwata (Mae Whitman), who can't seem to get cast in a high school production. That same drama teacher had passed her by in casting Mary Warren, one of the teens in Arthur Miller’s Crucible.

Now Diwata wants to be in Once Upon A Mattress, scheduled to be presented in a cleansed version without the pending pregnancy of one of the main characters because it was conceived prior to marriage. She is pissed and threatens to contact the Mary Rodgers estate and get them to cancel the show. Then she gets a message from Howie, who has been listening in, informing her that he can tell her about the drama teacher.

Solomon confronts his teacher, the marvelous Dale Dickey, to get her to approve his term paper about a scandal concerning the mayor's alleged liaisons with teenage boys. His efforts are frustrated by school rules that try to avoid sexual issues even though half the students are having sex.

It is inevitable that these three students eventually meet up, especially since Diwata had seen Solomon fooling around with the drama teacher in the men's room. She basically blackmails the two boys into promoting her as an actress in the new Speech and Debate format where the content isn’t controlled. They put together a hilarious presentation with Diwata as Mary Warren and Howie as a gay Abe Lincoln. At the end, they join together in a "gay dance" choreographed by Howie.

They each have their own motives: Howie to let his classmates know he is gay, Solomon to come out for the first time, and Diwata to show what a good actress (in her mind) she is. The results are funny, touching, and a satiric look at the hypocrisy of the adult world.

The acting is fine, but Ms. Whitman tends to let it all hang out without much control, leading me to wonder why the two guys would be willing to work with her. She comes off as a bit of a nut case. The character of Howie has been played more effeminately, and Mr. Welsh is not that. The effeminate choice might have given an interesting dimension to the piece. Mr. Himelstein tends to be a bit dour, but his character is angry and closeted, presenting the challenge of how to be that and still be lively.

Daniel Henning, the Artistic Director of The Blank, directs with a sure hand. Despite my reservations, this is a play worth seeing. It runs at the The Blank until Oct 26 (though there may be extensions).