Thanks, John Hughes

How do you find beauty and human connection in the purgatory of an all-day, high-school detention? Like life, detention gives back what you lug into it. Confine a jock, a brain, a rebel, a basket case and a sweet-ginger princess together, and include an unlikely dance number. Tonight's live production of The Breakfast Club kicks off an open-ended weekly run at Westport Coffee House, courtesy of the Coterie Theatre. Director Ron Megee adapted the movie for the stage with the help of young cast members who are probably misunderstood but beautiful inside. Unlike the infamous edited-for-television versions that older detainees grew up on ("Eat my socks!"), this production is faithful to John Hughes' raw and honest film. As such, it's geared toward high-school and college audiences instead of the Coterie's usual raft of knee biters. Detention starts at 7:30 p.m. at the Westport Coffee House Theatre (4010 Pennsylvania, 816-756-3222). See coterietheatre.org or call 816-474-6552 for tickets.
Mondays, 7:30 p.m., 2009