Performing Arts

People starve every day in a world of ever-increasing scarcity.

And in America, some starve for other reasons. Amid plenty, kids refuse food in a desperate attempt to be more perfect and more in control of a world that lauds the lean, from supermodels to Desperate Housewives in size zero designer duds. When the drive to diet becomes all-powerful, they can develop eating disorders that lead to depression, alienation and, ultimately, death.

That's the world depicted in EAT (It's Not About Food), a gutsy, arresting and at times daringly, darkly humorous world premiere by Dallas Children's Theater resident playwright Linda Daugherty at the Rosewood Center for Family Arts through May 11.

As with Ms. Daugherty's The Secret Life of Girls, a story about teen bullying, which premiered at DCT last year, EAT is a well-researched, interview-driven fictional story that uses an ensemble cast to turn light on a hot-button issue aimed at teens as part of the company's Young Adult Relevant Drama series.

But as powerful as it is, Friday's opening night post-performance question-and-answer session about anorexia, bulimia and purging (such sessions will follow each 50-minute performance) pointed to ways in which this laudable script could benefit from more seasoning. A few questioned how America's growing childhood obesity problem fit in the fabric of eating disorders – is it part of a larger dysfunctional relationship with food? And what about the underlying issues of anxiety and self-esteem that can make some kids more vulnerable to these disorders?

The show begins in a restaurant on Randel Wright's black stage, with its aptly claustrophobic gray, barlike crisscross pattern, a refrigerator, scale and treadmill, and a hanging red neon sign that says, EAT. As a waitress, played by Kimberly Condict, addresses the tortured relationships we can have with food, an ensemble cast of professional adult actors and local teens tackles a rich variety of roles. Ms. Condict sparkles in one of Ms. Daugherty's cleverest creations: a generic, thin, bubbly TV actress whose face and hands are all that can be seen through a full-length poster board painted with her perfect generic figure.

Chamblee Ferguson, who plays Amy's concerned dad, inserts comic verve into a dim coach, surprised at times by some of the eating disorder facts he reads from a textbook as part of his class lesson. And Lisa Fairchild runs the gamut from Amy's quietly grounded therapist to the frantically funny Calorie Woman, who panics at the possibility that whole milk may have been substituted for her nonfat request in her latte, thus throwing off her daily calorie count.

Under Nancy Schaeffer's sensitive direction, the teens shine, too.

As Amy, Kelly Brooks (who alternates with Evelyn Roberts) sweats desperation as she runs off each imagined calorie while veering dangerously thinner. Keeping the awareness of boys with this issue in the mix, Senam Dey shows how susceptible a pressured young wrestler can be to make his weight class, while Spencer Riggs (who alternates with Paolo Sintobin) gives a melancholy lilt to sad-eyed Joey, a lonely boy who finds comfort in food and then purges to fight the pounds that make him a target of mockery from his peers.

When surgically cutting to the core of such painful emotions, responsibility is everything. And that is where this DCT production deserves the highest praise. Working in concert with Girls to Women Health and Wellness, The Elisa Project and Children's Medical Center Dallas, the theater will provide written materials and a professional trained in treating these disorders at each performance, leaving open the possibility of changing and perhaps even saving lives of both young audience members and friends whom they now may recognize as needing help.

PLAN YOUR LIFE EAT (It's Not About Food), presented by Dallas Children's Theater through May 11. Fridays 7:30 p.m., Saturdays 1:30 p.m., Sundays 1:30 and 4:30 p.m. Rosewood Center for the Family Arts, 5938 Skillman St. 214-740-0051. $12-$21, $12-$19 youth. www.dct.org.