‘Dark Play or Stories for Boys’
Playing a game is typically a fun pasttime, but when the game has only one rule: ‘At least one player must not know he is playing the game,’ the consequences are likely to be damaging and irreversible. Playwright Carlos Murillo’s Dark Play or Stories for Boys plays such a game with said consequences. An edgy, turbulent, harsh … almost misanthropic story based on true events, Salt Lake Acting Company’s production of Dark Play hangs both dread and satisfaction in the air long after the show ends.
Nineteen-year-old Nick (Jesse Pepe) “makes shit up.” The morning after a night of “humping,” Molly (Gabi Caro) notices several scars around Nick’s abdomen; when she asks about them Nick struggles between making more shit up or telling her the truth about their existence.
Flashback five years to a 14-year-old Nick, who has already started cyber dating by making fake online personaes (Jay Perry). When he stumbles upon an ad by 16-year-old Adam (Michael Gardner) who is looking to “fall in love” with a girl with dirty blonde hair, green eyes and a petite figure (every American boys’ dream girl!??!), Nick just can’t resist the temptation. Magically appearing online is that exact girl. Her name is Rachel (also Gabi Caro). And through Nick’s manipulation, Adam and Rachel build an online relationship, but when it comes time to meet face to face, Nick scrambles to introduce other fake characters including himself as Rachel’s younger brother.
Eventually and ironically Nick becomes somewhat enamored with Adam, which spins the “game” into the real world and ultimately out of control.
The cast is fantastic here because the play is unsettling, yet entirely encompassing. Albeit Gabi Caro’s “first professional stint” is rather obvious up among seasoned performers Jay Perry and Brenda Sue Cowley, who plays Nick’s mother (among other roles). Standing out though is Jesse Pepe, who is emotionally sound in his portrayal of Nick — a truly believable, anguished and selfish teenager.
The storyline is heavy and tragic, yet director Tobin Atkinson does insert moments of comic relief through the use of the absurdly animated Jay Perry. The storyline is also convoluted in terms of what and who is real or imaginary, and Atkinson, for the most part, keeps the flow steady and trackable. Atkinson seems also to hint to a number of moral questions through body language. The argument scene between Nick and his mother is powerful, but arguably incestuous.
Dark Play is neither right nor wrong, pessimistic nor optimistic, gay nor straight; it is a testament to the boundaryless human sexual condition, especially in an age of technology. Murillo says of it, “People find themselves — whether it’s gay, straight or bisexual — in strange sexual situations in their lives, or complicated tricky sexual situations in their lives. And if it creates a reaction and it does ruffle feathers, and it does make you uncomfortable, why not look at that?”
It is well worth a look.
‘Dark Play or Stories for Boys’ contains rampant, vulgar profanity and mature themes. The show runs through Feb. 22, Salt Lake Acting Company, 168 W. 500 North. Tickets $13–34, 363-7522 or saltlakeactingcompany.org.