Growing up, everyone seems to find their niche, the thing or friends that help them survive their tween years. In Jenny Rachel Weiner’s darkly funny comedy Horse Girls, an elite equestrian club comprised of twelve year olds experience the potential end of their life when the stable they so nearly and dearly love is potentially about to disappear on them.
Horse Girls follows queen bee and president and decider of all Ashleigh and her entourage of “friends” as they embark in an eventful meeting of the Lady Jean Ladies. What begins as a normal meeting of hierarchy, jealousy, and all around cattiness on the part of President Ashleigh soon turns into an afternoon of chaos as news breaks that the Lady Jean stables may soon be sold, forcing the horses to be sold for, not glue, but meat. When a mutiny arises and the girls turn on their leader, Ashleigh does what any sensible twelve year old does, a reign of terror. Weiner’s script is everything you wish for in a tween-centric comedy. Weiner captures the hilarity and gravity of every little thing in a twelve year-old’s simple life. Her dialogue is sharp and witty. The dichotomy of characters Weiner presents in this tight circle of friends is quiet interesting. Rather than have similar clones, she mixes the privileged with the odd ball with the sidekick. With a very short running time, Weiner has much room to continue to develop this eclectic mix of girls so the supporting roles have a bit more of a cleaner arc. The meat is there, and quite nice, and by adding more, the abrupt climax of Shakespearean proportions doesn’t come across as rushed.

photo courtesy of Hunter Canning

The ensemble of seven have a wonderful time portraying these whacky girls. Leading the team of girls is Olivia Macklin as the epitome of mean, Ashleigh. Macklin uses a delightful amount of resistance to portray her power. Her journey of entitlement to loss of power is wonderful to watch, keeping her composure. Macklin employs a dry sense of comedy to Ashleigh, something that is drastically different from the more caricature based performance by Kaley Ronayne. Ronayne offers a strong and transformative performance as odd duck Margaret. Ronayne channels her inner kid bringing out the awkwardness of Margaret. Rounding out the strong performances is Angeliea Stark as second in command Tiffany. Stark is well-rounded and sincere. Despite her character having a bit of a radical change after she discovers her best-friend-since-the-womb is about to kick her out, Stark brings out the pain and loyalty of her character.
Director Sarah Krohn does a magnificent job getting her ensemble to believably bring their characters to life. She keeps the action moving and allows the beats to be found. Her staging was quite calculated, even keeping a keen eye on minute details including the leveled seating arrangements of the girls. Krohn does struggle finding the cohesiveness of comedic styling among the girls. While they each find their own comedic style that fits their individual character, it occasionally doesn’t mesh as one. Scenic designer Daniel Geggatt does a wonderful job of using the space, incorporating the architecture into his design. The ambiance brings you into the bedroom, allowing you to feel like a fly on the wall. Geggatt too has a nice eye for detail with the pieces and décor in the room. Costume designer Siena Zoe Allen captures the essence and quirks of each of the girls.
Horse Girls is a wild comedy with room to expand. And I don't think the audience would complain to see more of these girls. Yet in it’s current state, Horse Girls is an exceptional glance at the mean girl culture and the struggles it brings.

Name: Jenny Rachel Weiner

Hometown: Coral Springs, FL: where New Yorkers go to retire, and their children follow suit.

Education: BFA in Theatre Arts Performance from Boston University and MFA in Playwriting from Fordham/Primary Stages.

Favorite Credits: diventare (KCACTF National Student Playwriting Award), The Selfish Giant, Grow Wise (Northlight Theatre), Nina (Fordham/Primary Stages), Jason&Julia (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Horse Girls (Fordham/Primary Stages, Ars Nova, Collaboraction, Annex Theatre), Aunt Sylvia Is Dead (The Collective), Summer on the High Seas (Ugly Rhino).

Why theater?: When I was five years old I played the Ugly Stepsister at the Lollipop Theatre in an abandoned mall, and I haven't really looked back since.

Tell us about Horse Girls: Horse Girls is a play about pre-teens: their obsessions, their insecurities, their desperate need to find a place in the world. This is the "official" blurb: Twelve-year-old Ashleigh rules the Lady Jean Ladies, South Florida's most exclusive horse club. Rumor that her family's stables are being sold and their horses killed for meat throws the Ladies into crisis in this dark comedy of middle school deception and lies.

What inspired you to write Horse Girls?: I have a total fascination with this time period. I think the experiences we have in middle school shape us in a major way, and the kind of intensity and seriousness in which pre-teens move through the world is both incredibly funny and painfully sad to me. The horse preteen culture is a great example of obsessiveness in young girls, and diving into that highly specific world allowed me to find the universality of the deeper, human issues we face, horse-obsessed or not, that live in the play. It really could be about anything; mine was always theatre. I was President of my Thespian troupe and my world revolved around that sub-culture. This play is an exploration of how far one might go to protect the thing they feel is keeping them the safest.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: The theatre that speaks to me is theatre that makes me feel. A sharp, nuanced, honest, belly laugh kind of play with heart is my favorite to experience. I love plays that incorporate highly theatrical moments in a smart, surprising way. I am also a huge fan of work that distills deeply human moments, shining a light on their hidden parts, so that we as audience can see our deepest selves, our darkest selves, see the questions we want to ask the world, see the things in the world that make us angry, that make us feel excited, that call us into action.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: I would love to hive mind with Annie Baker, Lisa Kron, Sheila Callaghan, and Jill Soloway--some major lady heroes of mine. I would love to work with an ensemble based group like The Civilians or Elevator Repair Service. I think it would be fun to write a play for Heather Matarazzo (of Welcome To The Dollhouse, one of my greatest joys in life).

What show have you recommended to your friends?: I just saw Sarah Ruhl's The Oldest Boy and I ugly-cried through most of the play. I think it's absolutely stunning.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Gaby Hoffman or Carl Reiner and it would be called "MOM, I'M FINE!"

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Thai Food. And Netflix TV Binge Watching. Usually at the same time.

What’s the most played song on your iTunes?: Right now it's “Blank Space” by Taylor Swift. Horse Girls has taken over my life.

If you weren’t working in theater, you would be _____?: This is an ACTUAL quote from my middle school journal: "The thing I most want to be is a famous actress. If I don't become that, some of the other choices would be: a child psychiatrist, a speech pathologist, but my real dream is to become a famous actress and win an oscar and an emmy and all that good stuff!!!!!"

What’s up next?: I am currently working on a few different projects with a few different collaborators, all of which I'm incredibly excited about: a pilot, a web series, a take on Waiting for Godot, but instead of Godot, it's Sutton Foster, and an exploration of my time at theatre camp. I'm also an actor and director with The Story Pirates--check us out at storypirates.org!