Though the stage was almost empty of all props with only three chairs and a large bare wooden structure, the production was not bare or empty at all.
A powerful drama, the University Players’ “A Human Interest Story (Or the Gory Details and All)” by Carlos Murillo and directed by Edgar Landa, interweaves topics of drugs, porn, censorship, suicide and the power of media amongst six characters.
Immediately grabbing the attention of the audience in the first scene, a mother desperately tries to tell the story of her disturbed son. She describes him as a “teenage cyber-punk separatist wannabe.” She sobs as she tells the audience of her son’s odd behavior and interest in an unedited news broadcast he found online. The download shows a man putting a gun in his mouth and pulling the trigger. As the mother speaks, the actor playing her son is off to the side touching himself sexually while watching the download in question.
As an interesting visual twist to the production, a handheld camera is used to focus on the face or hands of a given speaker, which is then projected onto the wall behind the players. The sound of TV static is heard and the lights go out, leaving the stage pitch black with every scene change. This and the projection on the wall added extra elements of theatrics and drama. Though the players are still visible on stage, the close-up projection of their face or body gives a behind-the-scenes feeling, something accessible only to the audience, and adds a sense of vulnerability.
The next scene is the main focus of the play. It involves a man who tells his story while being interviewed. Only his hands are filmed and projected onto the wall; they shift as he speaks, emphasizing his most important words. The character, played by Ivan Rodriguez, gives a powerful monologue full of imagery, allowing the audience to empathize with what he can see and feel. He speaks of inappropriate sexual fantasy, voyeurism, depression and guilt.
The broadcast of the man who commits suicide, mentioned in the first scene of the play, is interwoven into almost all the scenes. The man pleads, “Please leave the room if this will offend you,” before taking a gun to himself. That very line is used throughout different scenes of the play, reminiscent of that tragic moment.
All six players are onstage at all times, although not all of them speak in a given scene. However, some chime in with one or two lines from previous scenes.
The overlapping and interweaving stories did cause some confusion at times. The audience anxiously tried to figure out the scene and connect the pieces.
Messages of agenda-setting, the role of media on youth trends, messages of self indulgence and the role of parenting for youth, are all themes that run throughout the play.
Director Landa describes the show as playing with “the idea of peeking through the windows at the secret lives people lead behind closed doors.” It is a play with honesty and truth that can be upsetting to see and even harder to understand.
The production’s strong and vast narrative made up for lack of visuals and props. It is 80 minutes of pure intensity.
“A Human Interest Story” runs through Saturday, March 20 in the Players Theatre at Cal State Long Beach.
