Early in “Confetti Kids,” Dr. Rachel Graves is delivering a presentation on the history and long-term effects of uranium processing in North St. Louis County during the early days of nuclear energy. Rachel is a single mother and a former professor of nuclear history. The occasion is a special PTA meeting at the high school in the affected area where Rachel’s daughter, Maya, is a senior.

“Confetti Kids” is receiving its first full production from SATE. The play’s development was supported by St. Louis Shakespeare Festival’s Confluence Writers Project, which mounted a staged reading in March 2025.

Disseminating the information in the presentation must have been a primary goal for playwright Aurora Behlke, but she understands that the presentation needs a dramatic context to be stageworthy.

The PTA meeting takes place at the same time and in the same building as the school’s senior prom. Maya is stranded at home on her prom night because her ride to the prom fell through, and her mother is unreachable because of her presentation.

Instead of proceeding linearly, the presentation is interrupted by flashbacks. Some are about Maya’s upbringing. Others reveal that Rachel has a life-threatening illness and that she has put off starting treatment and telling Maya about her condition.

Behlke skillfully interweaves the present and the past. The time and place of scenes is clear in the staging by director Kristen Strom, who takes advantage of the flexibility provided by Erik Kuhn’s scenic design and Eric Satterfield’s video. The helpful technical work includes Theresa Comstock’s lighting, Kayla Lindsay’s costumes, Cecile “Cece” Entz’s props, and Ellie Schwetye sound.

The excellent cast includes Nicole Angeli as Rachel, Tia René Williams as Maya, Adam Flores as Daniel (Rachel’s friend and physician), and Hailey Medrano as Vera (a teacher at Maya’s school).

I admire Rachel’s fervor about environmental justice, but the priorities and decisions that drive the plot reduce my sympathy for her. Perhaps my expectations were too high for an expert in nuclear history. Also, I would think a single mother facing enormous medical bills would care more about keeping a job with healthcare than Rachel does.

Other viewers may be more taken than I was by an attempt to inject comic relief into an important revelation or by the ease with which earlier tensions are dissipated at the end.

“Confetti Kids” continues through September 5 at The Chapel, 6238 Alexander Drive.

—Gerry Kowarsky

Photo by Joey Rumpell
From the left, Hailey Medrano as Vera, Adam Flores as Daniel, Nicole Angeli as Rachel, and Tia René Williams as Maya in “Confetti Kids.”