Review: Fall into a scary ‘Trap’ at Vashon High School

I’ll cut straight to the chase: I screamed loudly and repeatedly at one point during Vashon High School Theater’s production of “Trap,” which opened last weekend at the high school.

And if you go to one of three additional performances of “Trap,” you may feel like doing that too.

I highly recommend screaming, of course — there’s plenty of cause for it, these days, and it feels so good to just let it out. And “Trap,” a thriller/horror play written for high school theater programs by Stephen Gregg, lets you do just that.

I also laughed, by the way, and scratched my head at several other points during the play, trying to keep up with its fiendishly twisted plot.

And underneath all that, I felt a familiar flush of civic pride in the way our community trains and nurtures young theater artists.

Just down the street, a joyous production of “Newsies, Jr.” was opening at Vashon Center for the Arts, filled with younger thespians singing and dancing their way through the Disney musical about, well, a scrappy band of child laborers who go on strike against their evil corporate overlords. Nice! Why not teach our children progressive values and how to tap dance, all at the same time?

They do grow up so fast.

Soon, VCA’s musical theater program students will graduate, and move on to Vashon High School, where they’ll be in good hands in the theater program run by Andy James.

James’ focus, for the past several years, has been to teach teenagers about the creative miracles that can happen when they work together to make theater. Along the way, they’ve honed collaborative skills they will use for the rest of their lives — while making unforgettable memories and putting on some darned fine shows.

With “Trap,” they’ve done it again. The show, as performed by its 22 intrepid cast members and directed by James, is a marvel of ensemble theater.

Playing sheriff’s deputies, academic researchers, firefighters, 911 operators, journalists, investigators and victims of more than one heinous crime, the 22 actors on stage never let their energy flag and always have each other’s backs. Their trust in each other and their joy in being onstage together is palpable.

Behind the scenes, another group of students fine-tuned all the show’s stagecraft and behind-the-scenes machinations. Notable among this large group is student costumer Stephanie Blower, who with her talented crew assembled the play’s spectacularly spooky wardrobe.

So what is the play about? Do you really need to know? Okay, I’ll say what I can, with no spoilers: “Trap” starts by telling the tale of a high school theater performance in a small town, during which something horrible happens to all but one of the audience members.

Copying the documentary style of plays that recount tragic true events, such as “The Laramie Project,” the play retraces the steps of an investigator and a firefighter (expertly played by Ella Saffrery and Henry Sutherland, respectively) who race to find out who or what caused the frightening event and save the audience members before it is too late.

The lead-up to the VHS show involved some enigmatic roadside posters and postings to social media — a sly promotional campaign that told islanders, “Don’t Tell the Secret.”

It all became abundantly clear, during the show, what that instruction referred to — but I’m not about to divulge any secrets here.

So don’t ask me if any supernatural creatures are involved — I won’t say. Does the haunted history of an old theater building factor into any of the dastardly goings-on? I can’t tell you. Or maybe, you’ll wonder as you watch it, as I did (right before I started screaming), “Am I really even watching a play, or is this all somehow really happening?” Again, I wish that I could help you with that crucial question, but I can’t.

You’ll have to find out for yourself, at three more performances taking place at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 21, and 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 22 and 23.

To buy tickets online, visit the program’s website at tinyurl.com/3hyuthfn. Tickets, at $10 for students and seniors and $12 for everyone else, are also available at the door.

The show is not recommended for young children due to scary moments and some disturbing content.