Coming of Age

At its core, the play is a story about coming-of-age, the experience of starting to move away from the experiences and beliefs associated with childhood and into the experiences and beliefs associated with being an adult. Coming-of-age stories are a frequently written and frequently read genre of narrative, inspiring and awakening readers to connect to the universal, archetypal experience of what amounts to growing up.

Like many other stories of this genre, the characters engage with the experience of coming-of-age on a number of levels. First, they learn about themselves – who they are as individuals, what their goals are, what their values are, and who they want to be. A vivid example of this sort of coming-of-age is the experience of #25, whom the text suggests is starting to become aware of herself as having a same-sex sexual orientation. Second, they learn what it means...