PLAYWRIGHT AIMS FOR WIDE VARIETY

“It’s not ‘Beach Blanket Bingo,’ ” insisted playwright Mark St. Germain of his “Out of Gas on Lover’s Leap” (opening Monday at the Coast Playhouse).

“Even though it’s about teen-agers, I hope audiences don’t think of it that way,” he added, during a recent phone conversation from his Rutherford, N. J. home. “When it was done before in New York, it attracted a very mixed audience, age-wise. The characters may be young, but I think they’re interesting people .”

The story involves two kids on their graduation night, trying to make decisions about their lives. It’s set in a New England private school for rich, emotionally disturbed kids. The boy (played by Jason Patric) is the son of a U.S. senator and the girl (Jami Gertz) is the daughter of a rock star. “I had a real desire to say something about the pressures on teen-agers today,” St. Germain said. “I wrote not only from what I saw, but my wife teaches emotionally disturbed teen-agers. . . . What makes these two kids unique is the aspect of celebrity parenthood, the effect that that has on their lives.”

St. Germain’s interest in social themes is not new. A previous play, “Legal Tender,” chronicled his dismay at the climbing divorce rate, “the statistics that are changing the American family. The fact is that in 20 years, out of 10 children, probably three will have their natural set of parents. I thought, ‘What is that going to do to the profile of our country?’ ”

He’s also, occasionally, written from his own life. “ ‘Warm Bodies’ is semi-autobiographical,” he said. “I guess it’s my ‘purge play.’ It was hard to do and I felt very vulnerable. But actually, I’m thinking of writing another (autobiographical) one now, about an acting teacher returning to class after a year’s sabbatical, and working out her frustrations with the students.”

Personal “purgings” aside, the playwright stressed that what he likes most about his work “is doing as much variety as possible: books for musicals or even an opera libretto, trying my hand at television and film scripts. I like the idea of one form being so different from another. It forces you to think in different ways.”

Born and raised in New Jersey, St. Germain, 31, attended St. Paul’s University and got his master’s at Villanova. “At that point, I thought I wanted to teach,” he said. “Then after a while, I thought I would like to try directing. After directing, I started to write. It was just a case of wanting to do more and more.” Eventually, he abandoned his day job (at the state arts council) and devoted himself to writing full time.

And challenges: one of St. Germain’s fondest forays was the recent task--with Doug Katsaros--of writing a libretto for the opera “Moby Dick” (subsequently staged at the York Theatre).

“We figured we’d write till it became impossible--but found we liked what was coming out,” he recalled. “Ahab is probably the most dramatic figure in American literature.”

Another happy experience was his association last year with Embassy Pictures, “which had an internship program to get people who’d never written for television--whose background was in theater--to develop new scripts and series. (He’s since sold one screenplay, “Half Way Home,” to CBS; it has yet to be filmed.)

“Making that switch of medium was a terrific idea,” he noted. “The more I do, the more I’m interested in.” And he’s pleased not to be classified--or typed--in any one medium. “Some people have a definite style: you look at their play or book and you know immediately who wrote it. But not me.”

Also not obvious is the lack of hidden meaning in his work. Asked to define this play’s title, St. Germain responded, “Well, the two kids are at a parking spot called Lover’s Leap . . . and the car runs out of gas.”