Thanks to everyone who came out for our final performances of dark play or stories for boys. It was a great weekend of full houses and a wonderful way to see off this show that meant a lot to all involved. We are really sorry to see it close.
For everyone who asked after the show, here is the 2005 Vanity Fair article that inspired the play. It’s a enthralling read and gives us a nice conversation piece to continue talking about this story.
Give us your thoughts: After reading this article, does it change the way you think of the play?
forumtheatre
Michael Dove
corduroys
hannah
forumblogger
I saw dark play on July 17th while I was in town for the LMDA conference. It absolutely blew my mind.
RE: After reading the article… I’m not sure that it really changes how I feel about the play. One of my favorite things about it is Nick’s character: you immediately like him and you also know that he’s a bit of a scumbag. I loved his narration–all the humor, the “Let me tell you…” dishyness, and the geeky intelligence. And even as it’s funny, even as it makes you laugh out loud, at the same time his story (and his character) becomes so poignant and infuriating and shocking and unbelievable that you don’t know what to think or how you feel about him at the end of it all.
In contrast, the article tells you how to feel, painting “John” as someone to be blamed as well as someone to be pitied. (The angle the reporter seems to be going for leans more heavily towards the latter, considering the kid’s age and mental health issues.) I was struck by all the similarities–I knew from the program notes that the play was inspired by this incident, but I had no idea the love story aspect was a part of it, nor the “agent” convincing the other kid of the government’s involvement in everything.
I still love the play. I still feel a sort of closeness with Nick’s character even as he destroys another kid’s life: his honesty with us seems almost like an attempt to make up for all his previous bullshitting. And I love the lead-up to the end, seeing the repeated segments in Nick’s memory (“Remember: When you do it, I want to you to promise me that you’ll tell him that you love him…”), and all the while wondering what the hell is going on in this kid’s head that so compels him to continue.