Stalking the Bogeyman
University of Alaska Anchorage
April 2016
Directed by Brian Cook
Scenic Design and Technical Direction by Daniel Glen Carlgren
Costume Design by Colleen Alexis Metzger
Lighting Design by Daniel Anteau
Sound Design by Devin Frey and Lily Werts
Stage Management by Alicia Brown
CAST
Devin Frey as David
Chris Evans as Bogeyman
Emily Pratt as David's Mom
Kevin Lee as David's Dad
Jasmine Saxby as Bogeyman's Mom/Molly
Justin Stewart as Bogeyman's Dad/Payaso/Coach Billy
Swings: Jake Beauvais (David/Bogeyman), Mario Castillo (David's Dad/Bogeyman's Dad), Megan McIlmail (David's Mom, Bogeyman's Mom)
When he was just 7 years old, David Holthouse was raped by a 17-year-old family friend. Twenty-five years later, David learns that this man has moved into his new neighborhood, and he meticulously begins planning to murder his childhood Bogeyman.
The UAA production of Stalking the Bogeyman, based on Holthouse’s true account, is a partnership between the Departments of Theatre and Dance, Psychology, and Art, along with several community organizations. Performances of the play will be accompanied by talkbacks featuring a joint panel of artists and mental-health professionals, alongside multiple arts-based response projects for audience members to engage with. Throughout rehearsals and performances, psychology faculty and graduate students provided on-site mental health support for actors, crew, and audience members, and both the production and the audience response to it were studied by faculty and graduate students in the UAF/UAA Clinical-Community Psychology Ph.D. program.
After its Anchorage run, the play toured to several Alaska communities, including Palmer, Homer, Seward, Valdez, and Fairbanks.
DIRECTOR'S CONCEPT DIRECTOR'S NOTES
Production Photos
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| David (Devin Frey) prepares to tell us his story: "This time last year, I started plotting to kill a man." |
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| While his parents are upstairs having a dinner party, seven-year-old David plays in the basement with the son of his friends' parents (Chris Evans) who is 10 years older. |
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| He shows David all the cool stuff he has, like a ninja sword and nunchucks. Then, while their parents are upstairs, he rapes David. |
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| After the rape, the other boy acts as if nothing has happened and tries to convince David to play Atari with him. He later tells David that he'll be killed if he ever tells anyone what happened. |
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| David tells no one. He starts to view the other boy as his "Bogeyman." |
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| Though close with his parents, he does not tell them. One night, David convinces his father (Kevin Lee) to play baseball with him. David has a fit and breaks down, but his father does not suspect the cause. |
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| David's parents continue to socialize with the Bogeyman's family. At one New Year's Eve party, the Bogeyman passes out and David kicks him in the face. |
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| Years pass. David, after college, begins working as a journalist. His mother (Emily Pratt) takes him to buy a new suit, and David is surprised to find that the Bogeyman works there. He imagines getting his revenge violently, but ultimately does and says nothing. |
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| David eventually takes a job in Denver, and his mother calls him to tell him that the Bogeyman is also now living there. |
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| Stunned by this news, David begins to secretly plot to kill the Bogeyman. |
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| Through his contacts, he visits a gun store and talks to Emmitt (Kevin Lee) about how weapons can be traced. |
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| After the information he gets from Emmitt, David decides to get a gun illegally from another contact, the gang leader Payaso (Justin Stewart). |
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| His drug dealer, Molly (Jasmine Saxby), who also encountered abuse as a child, begins to suspect that David is going through something. He tells her that Bogeyman is in town, but does not tell her of his plan to kill him. |
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| David's parents, who have heard increasingly less from him, become concerned. |
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| They eventually find David's childhood journal where he wrote about his rape, and they confront him. David admits the truth to them. |
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| His parents initially think that the perpetrator is Coach Billy (Justin Stewart), a baseball coach who had coached David's team. David tells of a time when he worked to thwart Coach Billy's advances. |
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| David tells his parents that it was their friends' son who raped him. They are stunned. David's mother calls the Bogeyman's parents (Jasmine Saxby, Justin Stewart) to tell them that their son is a rapist. |
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| David also knows that he can no longer kill the Bogeyman. Instead, he writes him a letter and asks for a meeting. The Bogeyman admits what he did and says he never did it again. |
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| After the meeting, David begins to see the Bogeyman as simply a "frightened, damaged man" and is able to call him by his name, Nathan. He decides to write his story for an article in the newspaper he works for. |