SOMEWHERE IN AMERICA, a man fantasizes about his best friend's wife. In another city, a young housewife momentarily loses sight of her children. Elsewhere, a politician relives a tragic second that forever changed his life, and a mother wonders where her teenage son got the gun. And in one town, a man watches all this unfold on his TV screen. A Human Interest Story is an unflinching portrait of an American obsessed with voyeurism that asks the question: Is the imagination more cruel and unforgiving than reality?
PRODUCTION HISTORY
World Premiere - Walkabout Theatre, Chicago, 2004
West Coast Premiere - Son of Semele Ensemble, 2004
European Productions - Chaskis Theatre, Camden Fringe Festival, UK, 2015; Theatre der Stadt Aalen, Germany (Translated by Henning Bochert) 2011
Additional U.S. Productions - the dirigo group, Austin, 2006; California State University, Long Beach, 2010; The Hangar Theatre Lab, Ithaca, 2003
Workshops & Readings - Theatre Beyon Borders Festival, Royal Stratford East/Chaskis Theatre, London, 2016; New Work Now! Festival, The Public Theater, New York City, 2002; Hothouse Festival, Annex Theatre, Seattle, 2001
PRESS
"Also at work in Human Interest is a hint of tenuously interconnected scenarios that director Albert Altman gave us in his film, Shortcuts. But Murillo has some vivid ideas of his own, and he is a writer of great richness and technical brilliance. Not everyone will want to walk on the dark side with him, but those with the stomach for it will not be disappointed." Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times
"Murillo's drama weaves multiple narratives involving characters influenced in various ways by the incident and the underlying media-driven fascination with prying into private lives." - LA Times
"Top 10 Stage Excitements of 2006 . . . This disturbing message is conveyed by Murillo with strong storytelling tools: a rich accumulation of details, a tantalizing unfolding of narrative, distinct voices. His characters differ as much as the stories that open and close a newscast . . ." - Austin Chronicle
"Top 5 Productions of 2004." - NewCity Chicago
". . . author-director Carlos Murillo's impressively articulate text keeps us always cognizant of our narrative dimensions and the cast he has assembled for this Walkabout production embrace their universe with an intensity that renders significant every pause and twitch." - Windy City Media Group
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