It may have been inspired by Euripides’ ancient commentaries on masks and false identities, but Carlos Murillo’s dark play or stories for boys is as contemporary as the Internet. In fact, Murillo’s story is about the Internet, or at least set there, in a creepy drama inspired by the true story of a British teen and his near-fatal online affair.
There’s precious little LOL going on as Murillo returns to themes similar to those found in his last two plays, A Human Interest Story, or The Gory Details and All and Mimesophobia, or Before and After. (This is a playwright fond of “or” titles.) Like dark play, those works deal with how the electronic media is transforming contemporary society. “Everybody creates a myth about their lives,” Murillo says of Internet “communities,” “and we select what’s interesting. When a life event involves inexplicable pain, you are almost obliged to create a story to navigate it, to survive it."
Originally workshopped with college students at the University of California at Santa Barbara, this dark play stars ASU students.
Thursdays-Sundays. Starts: Feb. 22. Continues through March 2, 2008
