Reviving Ophelia adapts one of the truly seminal nonfiction books of our time into a gripping story of four teen girls battling the corrosive influence of popular culture and searching for the personal North Star that will guide them home. Jill is a Native American girl adopted by white parents. Her drinking, truancy, and bad attitude are corrected in a very unexpected way. Allie, a pastor's daughter, faces a crisis of faith at a mother-daughter bookclub meeting when her friend Lia loses her own mother to cancer. One remarkable scene between Lia and her boyfriend, Alex, harkens back to Hamlet's famous 'Get thee to a nunnery!', with Alex betraying a scary part of his personality that he keeps hidden. Beautiful Dawn approaches high-school graduation with the realization that she's not prepared for anything but attracting guys;

her solution is to attempt 18 Jello shots to celebrate her 18th birthday. Again, help comes from unexpected quarters. Playwright Bennett, specifically chosen by Dr. Pipher to adapt her work, deftly leavens the drama with great humor, tracing the intertwining lives of these four girls from first grade through middle school, and then through high school to graduation and young adulthood. This play toured though urban, suburban, and rural schools with equal success.

"Kids really need to hear and see what their 'Select' peers are feeling and doing. With all the talk and text messages, they are still reluctant to share feeling, talk out their problems, and ask for help in finding solutions. Thank you for an excellent performance"

Joe Sinsheimer - Raritan High Schoo

"The show was excellent on Friday! The Kids really enjoyed it, and the actors and stage manager did an excellent job. They met with the students afterwards for 10 - 15 minutes and did a talk back, and the theatre kids really loved it....
The actors were all wonderfully talented and my theatre kids learned a lot from them. A lot of the freshmen who are not in the theatre program enjoyed the show tremendously as well. It seemed to impact a lot of the teenage girls in the audience...
Thanks again for the opportunity. I look forward to working with Surflight in the future."

Mr. Brian Stike, Lacey Twp. High School

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