Strap on those Converse high tops and take your pink slip to your homeroom. “Detention, Definitely Not The Breakfast Club,” opens at the Blue Room Theatre in Chico this week.
Samantha Shaner directs this adaptation of John Hughes’ classic 1980s teen film “The Breakfast Club,” which starred Brat Pack favorites Emilio Estevez and Molly Ringwald.
“Detention” marks Shaner's directorial debut.
"I feel like I'm going to vomit. I'm so nervous," Shaner said. "I'm an actor, and I swear I'm more nervous as a director than I've ever been on stage for myself."
With her theater background, Shaner said she understands what makes a play work and how to bring moments, emotions, and acting out of her cast. What she didn’t realize was the pressure a director carries.
"Everything falls on your shoulders: the costumes, the press, the set, handing out scripts, just every minute detail," she said.
She took on the task after her son, Jaxon Strausbaugh, who adapted the script, asked her to direct it.
“I think the most important thing to me is that these kids shine in this,” Shaner said. “It's so important to me that they also have the best experience ever.”
The play is set in 1984, at Shermer High School in Illinois. It explores stereotypes and personal revelations among students — themes kids are still experiencing.
"How people perceive you is still very relevant today, especially among high schoolers or junior high schoolers," Shaner said. "There are those cliques, and there are those people, and so it's unmasking the curtain of that and seeing that these kids have home lives that maybe aren't what they appear to be.".
Strausbaugh began adapting the script in 2022. He emphasized modernizing the script while maintaining the relatability of the high school experience.
"People stay in their groups and don't typically branch out," Strausbaugh said.
Strausbaugh hopes the audience will resonate with the characters because we’ve all been there.
"It's obvious these are all very exaggerated versions of these roles, and you may not see these exact characters, but you know somebody, like every single person in the show," Strausbaugh said.
The show also marks the Blue Room’s first theatrical performance in its new venue on West First Street.
The previous location was forced to close its doors after 25 years due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Detention” will be performed on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays for three weeks starting today.
