THE K of D: An Urban Legend

Photo: Maya Lawson (Photo by www.davidallenstudio.com.)

THE K OF D, an urban legend, a new play by Laura Schellhardt, directed by Rebecca Novick. MAGIC THEATRE, Bldg D – Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA 94123 (Parking lot entrance at Marina Blvd. and Buchanan St.) Box Office: 415.441.8822
www.MagicTheatre.org. September 20 – October 19, 2008

STORY TELLING AT ITS BEST

Two years ago at the Eugene O’Neil Theater Center, “The K of D” was one of 15 plays honored with a full workshop production at the Playwrights Conference. As a fledgling critic at the National Critics Institute, one of my assignments involved observation of the artistic process of Laura Schellhardt’s play. At the pre-production meeting, she emphasized the critical importance of sound and light to the play. The script used for Magic’s staging is the fourth draft and the play is imbued with stunning light (Kate Boyd) and sound (Sara Huddleston) to complement Maya Lawson’s superb, 80 minute tour de force creation of 12 characters under the able direction of Rebecca Novick.

As legend would have it, the “kiss of death” is bestowed on a young Charlotte McGraw after kissing her dying twin brother Jamie who, while skate boarding, was hit by “a rusty blue Dodge” driven by no-goodnik Johnny Whistler. The story takes place in a rural town in west Ohio with a nearby lake and is told by an unnamed Girl who insists it is not about her. “They’re called urban legends . . . seeing how most of ‘em take place somewhere rural. . .” After Jamie’s death, a strange large bird flies into the town and takes up residence in the lake. Since her twin died, Charlotte has become mute and the Girl knows that, in time, others will be the recipients of the K of D.

The Girl’s coterie of friends include an odd assortment, the oldest being 16 year old Becky Ray Voss who is addicted to “smoking” bubble gum cigarettes, loud mouth Quisp Drucker, gore aficionado Steffi Post, brothers Trent & Brett Hoffman and, of course Charlotte. Adults include schoolteacher Mrs. McGraw and her husband, Johnny and Johnny’s girlfriends. Maya Lawson makes these characters believable and she does so with expert timing, changing voice inflections, perfect hand, and body movement as she spins the ghostly story.

Charlotte gets her chance to avenge her twin’s death when she and her friends take advantage of the feud between the McGraws and their neighbor, the nefarious Johnny Whistler. The Girl’s description of the various girls who temporarily share Johnny’s bed adds a humorous respite for what is to come. To frighten Johnny, the pack starts a series of pranks that escalates into a chilling encounter involving dogs, a gun and the accidentally shooting of the bird and a final K of D.

The above paragraphs give a modicum of information about the fantastic assortment of sound cues that populate this ghostly story, all requiring eerie lighting to augment Lawson’s brilliant performance. You will leave the auditorium admiring Magic Theater’s dedication to bring innovative, thought provoking drama to the Bay Area.courtesy of TheatreWorld Internet Magazine.