Of Water and Gasoline

Don’t expect to get the warm fuzzies at Of Water and Gasoline. Local playwright/poet/director Salvador Macias’s play is a look at the dark side of life, with forays into mental illness and addiction. “It starts off sad, and it ends terrible,” Macias tells us. “There is no happy ending; nobody gets out alive.”

The plot follows Peter (played by Richard Hubscher, who doubles as the show’s choreographer), a man trapped in…jail or hell or a hellish lunatic asylum. (It’s hard to tell which, right off.) He might have murdered his wife; he might have molested his child, he might have set something on fire. Maybe. Surrounding Peter are several people/voices in his head, each trying to influence his actions. Macias hints at a surprise ending, though he’s careful to say it’s not a shock play. Composer/musician Baltazar Canales performs a live score.

Originally planned to be a very short performance piece, Of Water and Gasoline grew into a full-length play. “I wrote it after going through withdrawal from heroin. It was a catharsis for me,” says Macias, adding that it is not based on personal experience. “This is just me having fun with my dark impulses. It’s the car crash, it’s satisfying our morbid curiosity but from a distance. Everybody wants to see the blood and guts, but nobody wants to do the killing. That’s what this play does.” Obsidian Art Space, 3522 White Oak.

Thu., July 12, 8 p.m.; Fri., July 13, 8 p.m., 2012