Quick Hit Theater Review: Dally with the Devil

Elizabeth Norment, Elizabeth A. Davis and Erika Rolfsrud . Photo by Jon Kandel

Dally with the Devil
By Victor L Cahn
Directed by Eric Parness

Summary:
Everything seems so peaceful on oceanfront patio of the Cape Cod home (Jisun Kim, set design). A perfect place for Charlotte (Erika Rolfsrud), a partner in the controversial political blog Demon.com to relax when she's not taking down the next corrupt politician. Two visitors bring a wave of unrest, however. Charlotte's old professor, Irene (Elizabeth Norment), now a campaign advisor in a Senate race, drops some disparaging information about her man's conservative opponent. It seems he might not be the big war hero everyone thinks. Charlotte, full of journalistic integrity, isn't so quick to bite. She won't run anything without a full investigation. While she is digging, she gets a visit from Megan (Elizabeth A. Davis),  an advisor for the conservative candidate. When her pleas for Charlotte to drop the investigation fail, she fires back with some allegations about Irene. Just how far will Charlotte go in her quest to print the truth, and will she stop when she suddenly finds herself the target of some political ammunition being fired by both sides?

Highlights:
A nice look at the anatomy of the behind-the-scenes in a political race with pretty even-handed treatment for all points of view. The three actresses do a nice job portraying their characters and interacting with each other in a realistic way. Brisk paced 90 minutes.

Lowlights:
Some of the dialogue sounds contrived to provide exposition and there's a touch of stereotyping when it comes to the conservative candidate and his spokesperson (Megan is perceived as stupid; there's the inevitable "hiding the true gay self" that seems to be part of many conservative characters portrayed on stage), but neither is  too distracting from the interesting plot.

Christians might also like to know:
God's name taken in vain

More information:
The show runs through Oct. 8 at Off-Broadway's Beckett Theatre, 410 West 42nd St., NYC. Tickets are available by calling 212-239-6200 or by visiting www.DallyWithTheDevil.com.