Synopsis
King of Shadows
Published by Dramatists Play Service
2 Male 2 Female
When he meets a well-intentioned (and well-off) graduate student named Jessica, he tells her an unbelievable story - that there is a mythical world beneath our world, ruled by the King of Shadows
Nihar claims the terrifying, demon-like creature is hunting San Francisco's homeless population, trying to find him
Can Jessica protect Nihar?
Will she?
And could the boy somehow be telling the truth?
The answers in this unsettling play have frightening repercussions for both Jessica and Nihar, as well as for Jessica's boyfriend, Eric, and her sister, Sarah
"Sci-fi and horror are not genres you often encounter on the legitimate stage. Yet in King of Shadows, Aguirre-Sacasa has concocted a diverting and intriguing thriller by blending elements of Shakespeare and Stephen King ... The playwright is very adept at building a sense of mystery, cleverly feeding bits of new information to deepen it as the play unfolds ... Just as the audience thinks it has the whole picture figured out, Aguirre-Sacasa adds more pieces to the puzzle, leading to a series of twists at the end" ~ NY Times
"Both trick and treat, the play's tightly plotted twists and naturalistic dialogue stay so consistently engrossing it doesn't occur to you until the end of the evening that the little four-hander is actually a remarkably ambitious fantasy" ~ Variety