By Marilyn Jozwik
Everyone loves a good story. Especially a good scary story. And there’s no better time than fall and the season of ghosts and goblins to bring out the scariest stories.
The final play in First Stage’s fall 2021 Amplify – BIPOC Short Play Series is “The Tale of La Llorona as Told by Consuelo Chavez,” written by Jose Casas. In the play, the young performers recount several spine-tingling tales from different cultures. David Flores directs while Frank Prahl provides appropriate music to heighten the eerie mood.
Through Dec. 5, the play will stream for free. To access the YouTube link, go to: https://www.firststage.org/events-tickets/2021-22-season/amplify-bipoc-short-play-series/
The backdrop for the storytelling is an intriguing combination of events creating drama, mystery and thoughtful moments. Several friends (portrayed by Stephanie Santoyo-Bustos, Abigail Montie, Lina Singh, Thomas Bastardo, Carson Pressley and Augie Poppert) have gathered to celebrate Halloween, most likely their last together as they will all be going on to high school soon. The stormy weather has forced them into a basement to discuss their plans for the evening.
We see them all in different costumes, sitting on wooden blocks when a young man of similar age, dressed in a suit, appears as the Narrator (Zach Church). He speaks to the audience, describing the youths as “best friends connected by a lifetime of childhood memories” and telling the audience they’ll be “traveling through another dimension.”
Since they’re not able to be outdoors, the six friends decide the best way to spend the night is to tell scary stories. So, they gather around a lantern to relate some well-known spooky tales from various cultures. Storytelling on this night is a ritual for these friends, wanting to hold fast to the familiar as they embark on new adventures in their lives.
The young performers are marvelous in their narrations, using broad gestures, lots of movement and voice variations to enhance the fright. All the stories are thought-provoking, giving the friends – and audience -- lots to reflect on. Chuy (Bastardo) starts the frightening folklore with the tale from the Americas of the Chupacabra, a sort of vampire who drinks the blood of goats. Michael (Pressley) describes the mermaids of South Africa who pull swimmers under the water to their deaths. Lisa (Singh) and Angel (Montie) ask what it would be like to live forever, and then describe Koschei, a character from Russian folklore who hides his soul to be immortal.
It looks as though the evening is about to break up when Consuelo (Santoyo-Bustos) pleads with the others not to go. She tells the tale of La Llorona, a Latin American myth about a woman dressed in white, grieving for her dead children. Amid effective lighting and sound, Bustos, dressed in a white gown, stands atop a block as she retells the tale in chilling realism that causes all her friends to wonder exactly what happened. The maelstrom seems to reflect the group’s anxiety about moving from the comfort of familiar friendships to new dimensions in their own lives.
This fine cast maintains energy throughout and provides performances that will resonate with young audiences. The stories are captivating in the hands of these young performers.