By Charlene Baldridge

Hey, it’s not nice to rain on anyone’s coming-of-age story, especially not that of a teenage girl who feels like a misfit because she’s got a Mexican accent that complicates her assimilation into a high school in Columbus, Ohio.

In addition to the accent (Tatiana Suarez-Pico’s world premiere play, “Lesson 443” was originally titled “The Anatomy of an Accent”), 15-year-old Cari Gonzalez (Daniela Millan) also has a super-critical dead mother (Wendy Waddell) who harangues her every day; a still-grieving dad named Manny (Paul Araujo, playing a man as rigid as the bulletproof vest he wears while driving for a politician); Aunt Lottie (her mother’s twin sister, also played by Waddell, who may or may not have had/is having an affair with dad); and a rocker boyfriend named R (Anton Mabey) who wears eyeliner and packs condoms.

Cari’s Anglo mom died of cancer when Cari was still an infant, so Manny took her to live with his parents in Mexico. Thus, Spanish was her first language. Two years ago they settled in Ohio to take advantage of better education and preparation for college. Like most teenage girls, Cari’s desire is to fit in.

Maybe the protracted, one note story would go down more easily if either Millan or Mabey really played the guitar (Millan is only 16, and Mabey is her contemporary), or if the observer were persuaded to believe that any of these people, living or dead, truly gives a rat’s ass about anyone other than themselves, or if there were convincing evidence that change is possible and permanent.

Despite longing for sex and having of sex, neither couple packs much emotional heat. Despite the efforts of director Jennifer Eve Thorn, a young star is not born. Lottie is much more intent on her career as a magazine editor than she is on loving her machismo brother-in-law or taking on his daughter. Manny is a frustrated writer/poet (not very good) who leaves groaner metaphors all over the place. Carrie’s ghost is still pissed off, so she is not a reliable, truthful source of information. But ghosts seldom are.

Those seated in the dark deal with magic realism, delusion and an insurmountable Mexican accent, the latter being the primary, most explored dilemma. Granted, there are laughs, but it’s a packed, overlong evening from Suarez-Pico, author of numerous plays, a staff writer for NBC’s “Parenthood,” and a graduate of Actors Studio Drama School/New School University.

Perhaps Suarez-Pico will continue to work on “Lesson 443,” clarifying it and exploring motivation. Surely she could not wish for a better first production than that afforded by Moxie. Natalie Khuen’s meticulous set and Emily N. Smith’s character-based costumes are tops.

—Charlene Baldridge has been writing about the arts since 1979. You can follow her blog at charlenebaldridge.com or reach her at [email protected].