Local playwright pens allegory about fear

By Guy D’Astolfo

YOUNGSTOWN — “De Temor,” a one-act play written by Brandon Martin of Youngstown, will premiere at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, with additional shows the same time Friday and Saturday, at the EOS Building, 1931 Belmont Ave. Tickets are $7 and will be available at the door.

The cast features Monica Beasley-Martin, Dorian Thomas, Shaun McGee and Bernadette Lim.

“It’s an allegory for how fear ruins people’s lives,” said Martin, who also directs. “I wrote it as if fear was a person. There are three different stories about a woman named De Temor [Spanish for ‘from fear’]. Fear ruins people’s lives through fear of failure, fear of being rejected, things like that.”

Martin said the play is creepy and suitable for Halloween weekend, although it’s not scary in a supernatural sense. “Nothing pops up and goes ‘boo’,” he said. “It’s just life situations that some of us go through and how fear plays a part in those situations.”

Although “De Temor” is not the first play Martin has written, it is the first one he has produced. It’s the second project of his troupe, U.N. Action. The first was a dance concert at The Lemon Grove, downtown, in August.

Martin has done extensive theater work at the Youngstown Playhouse. His most recent credits include “Grease” at the Playhouse and “Charlie’s Aunts” at Victorian Players. He also directed a local production of “Lucasville,” which went to the Fringe Festival in New York.

Martin graduated from Youngstown State University in December with a major in theater and a minor in dance.

The idea for “De Temor” had been with him since graduation, when he began to ponder his future. “It was things that were going through my mind when I graduated, like, ‘What do I want to do?’ I thought it would be interesting to put these feelings into a play,” he said.

A substitute teacher, Martin wrote the play during a one-week vacation break earlier this year.

The EOS Building on the North Side was once the site of Chrystal’s Restaurant. The theater space in it holds 70 people.