Urban Legends, presented by the Beyond the Page Theatre Company of West Potomac High School, is a nice mix of original scenes and storytelling. Under the direction of Philip Lee Clark, this show kicks of with a narrator figure, almost a la Rocky Horror, asking the audience to reflect on some of the scary stories in their own life, either those that’ve been shared with them or which they’ve shared themselves. And that sets the context for the production, in terms of ultimately asking the audience to figure out where each story lies on the spectrum between fact and fiction.
The students are a passionate ensemble, to have committed to spending the better part of their summer vacation pursuing their passion. With six original scenes and about a dozen monologues interspersed over the course of the hour-long production, the stories encompass a wide range of urban legends, from the supernatural terrors to the homicidal murderers. And some of the tales might sound familiar, like Bloody Mary or the Back Seat Murderer.
Others might just have familiar elements, from things that go bump in the dark, to the undead girl talking about how she got revenge. This show was written and performed by high school students, it was delightful to hear familiar tales with elements that define their generation. So see this show because these youth, this next generation of theatre artists, are participating in a tradition that many of us have been a part of: the campfire ghost stories, the tales from the crypt, the myths that live at the edge of the darkness and threaten to keep us up at night.
Running Time: 60 minutes.
Urban Legends runs through July 28th, 2013 at The Mountain – at Mount Vernon United Methodist Church – 900 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC. For performance times and to purchase tickets, visit the show’s Capital Fringe page.
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2013 Capital Fringe Show Preview ‘Urban Legends’ by Cynthia Mullins.
