Dark Play, or Stories for Boys

by Carlos Murillo

Carlos Murillo

Genres: Plays, Theatre

95 pages, Paperback

First published January 30, 2009

Reviews

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four years before the film 'Catfish' brought the subject of Internet dating fraud to the public eye, Murillo presented this play on the same theme. Here, a 14 year old boy invents an alluring female cyber alter-ego in order to entice/entrap an older boy, with the predictable tragic results. This is all told from the perspective of the 19 year old Nick, relating the story of how he got some nasty body scars to his college girlfriend, but is largely done as direct address to the audience, which is not a format I particularly like. The casting of the lead role would seem problematic (from the pictures, it looks like an actor in his late 20's was cast in the premiere production), but Murillo's dialogue rings true and the play does keep one on edge.

[Greta Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in one day in the car while my mom drove and then on the train to Boston at around 16. I remember I was on my way to meet up with friends from camp I wasn’t all that close with, and I was so sick to my stomach after reading this that I didn’t feel like I was ready to see my friends. It was so evocative that not only did I feel ill that day, but such that I’ve searched it up every couple of years since to see what’s going on.

[Musi De Ovin · Rating 5 out of 5]

For 2006 a short and at times repetitive but incredibly fun and freaky good time play that dives deep into the worries and manipulation and Wild West that is the internet. What I would give to have chat rooms like they once did. I love freaky gay themed literature wahooo!

[nichole · Rating 5 out of 5]

holy fuck. it's so. it's so good. God. goodness. that. the ending monologue. God. Let's All Die

[Seeker of Knowledge, may he never succeed · Rating 5 out of 5]

The magnum opus of non-musical theater.

Premise
Dark Play, or Stories for Boys is the story of a teenage boy named Nick, who one day when messing around on an internet chatroom decides to pretend he is someone he is not. He invents a girl named Rachel, and a hopeless romantic on the chatroom named Adam, falls deeply in love with Rachel. Over time Adam wants to meet Rachel in person, and Nick must improvise his best excuses for why Adam cannot meet Rachel.

I have not as of yet found a play I have loved as much as this one. I have never seen it on stage, but reading it was an experience that cannot be replicated except by reading it again. In some ways I think there may be benefits to reading it over seeing it on stage. One great thing about Dark Play is that there are no stage directions, so the scenery, movement and delivery of lines is all left up to your imagination.

The scenes transition seamlessly, with you constantly jumping around the memories and narratives of Nick's psyche. One minute you're in a nondescript empty space, where Nick recounts what Adam first said to him, and the next minute your in a classroom watching Nick having a conversation with his teacher, and you're not quite sure when, or if you changed location.

As the title implies, the play is darkly psychological. Portraying Nick's messed up game in a ways that you're slightly ashamed of enjoying a little too much, and also makes you feel deeply sorry for him. The play constantly jumps from what is happening here and now, to moments where Nick talks to himself (Or is girlfriend, or the audience, depending on how you want to interpret it). Within these monologues Nick reveals the deepest darkest corners of his mind, and his messed up desires, which make you question why he desires what he wants to bring about (And that's all I can say without spoiling anything).

In Dark play, you are thrown into the mind of an adolescent boy with a little too much time on his hands, and a poor way of coping with his problems. It makes for a mind blowing story, with characters more real than I have ever seen.

I imagine that the perks of putting Dark Play on stage is that there is a unbelievable amount of freedom with the script, so I imagine every production would be different in some ways. When on stage this play would no longer be just Murillo's, but also the people who made their specific production what it is.

Dark play, or stories for boys is one of the most beautiful stories I have ever had the privilege to witness, and it will remain with me until the day I die.

Thank you, Mr. Murillo. You have created a masterpiece.

[Jack Becker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not only is this a huge reason to STAY AWAY from anonymous online chat rooms, but it's also one of the most dark, complex, interesting plays I've read, and that's saying something, considering the fact that I've read both "The House of Blue Leaves" by John Guare The House of Blue Leaves and "The Pillowman" by Martin McDonagh The Pillowman (which will make sure you stay in bed at night, ironically). But this play might just take the top of the list, mostly due to the fact that it's the most realistic twisted play I've really ever read. The idea of a young teenage boy getting into trouble in an anonymous online chat room isn't a very far-fetched idea, and it's something that I'm sure either really could happen or has happened already. Not only that, but Nick, the main character, is one of the richest characters I've come across in drama for a long time. Okay, I'm no certified theatre expert, not even close, so all I'm really basing my opinion off of is the way I feel about Nick's character, the intrigue I have with him, the same kind of interest that I've felt with Hamlet. That is not to say Nick and Hamlet are alike in any way; well, they both are kind of morose, conflicted individuals, but the circumstances they are put into are completely different from one another's. Anyhow, my interest in his path was something I couldn't shake, and his speeches were colorful and scary and oddly relatable, that probably being the freakiest thing about this play, because even though your life can be so different from Nick's, your choices so different from Nick's, you can't help but see where he's coming from, why he's doing what he's doing, and, in some universe, how you might be doing the same thing, if you were like him. It is the most terrifying thing about this play, and, for me, one of the most enchanting.

[Kerrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a good play. I was very on edge reading it ... and I think that points to its success. It can be so easy to get ahead of a play ... but I felt like I was compelled to read further to see where it was going/how it would unfold. Even in moments where I kind of sensed what is coming ... I wasn't certain.

[Craig · Rating 1 out of 5]

This seems like it was written by an adult enacting their version of a 12 year old. Written in 2006, it already feels incredibly dated. Even as far back as 2006, young people were not using email. So yeah, CATFISH and all that. Zzzzz.