[NEohioPAL] Review of "Say You Love Satan" at Convergence-Continuum

[Bob Abelman]

'Say You Love Satan' finds the good in what's evil

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review appeared in the Times papers 9/9/10

It's your typical love story: Boy meets son of the antichrist, boy falls in love with son of the antichrist, boy draws the wrath of son of the antichrist.

OK.  Perhaps playwright Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's Say You Love Satan, currently in production by Convergence-Continuum, is your typical love story only if you exist within a gay cult thriller.

However, as the play's protagonist-a mild mannered graduate student studying the collective works of author Fyodor Dostoevsky-suggests, those who have ever looked for love in all the wrong places and found it certainly feel as if they are in a gay cult thriller.   

In Say You Love Satan, Andrew chronicles his chance meeting and turbulent affair with a man too good to be true-the handsome, athletically-built and seductive offspring of the Prince of Darkness.  This off-beat and hilarious tale about the relationship from hell is told through a clever mixture of direct address to the audience, the employment of Dostoevsky's own words about good and evil, and gay inner-circle banter.

The storytelling is also influenced by Aguirre-Sacasa's experience as a writer for Marvel Comics.   The plot is paper thin and wonderfully fantastic.  There's a moral, of sorts, but nothing weighty or significant, despite the dose of Dostoevsky.  The numerous, short scenes are like segmented panels of smart dialogue and visually stylized action, connected by a narrative voice the equivalent of a thought balloon. Even the characters are colorful, broadly drawn and fairly one-dimensional creations.

Although comic qualities rarely translate to the stage unless accompanied by equally cartoonish music the likes of You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, they do in this romantic comedy due to the play's witty writing, outrageous storyline, and the concerted efforts of director Clyde Simon and his talented cast and crew.  In fact, Say You Love Satan is a delightful and thoroughly enjoyable evening's entertainment.  

Andrew, our fallen hero, is an endearing gay everyman.  The talented Scott Gobrach makes him a particularly charming and vulnerable fellow, which gives the audience reason to care about his wellbeing and his love life. This, in turn, allows the absurdity of Andrew's attraction to the bud of Beelzbub to seem not only feasible but reasonable given his penchant for the wrong men.

Chief among them is Jerrod, a medical student seeking to cure the world one good deed at a time.  His hobbies include cuddling crack-babies to make them whole and providing Andrew with unlimited, unconditional and suffocating nurturance.  Actor Stuart Hoffman makes Jerrod so practically perfect in every way that it sends Andrew running for cover. 

Andrew is already running from his bad boy ex, Chad, played with just the right over-the-top flair by Zac Hudak to make him sufficiently despicable.  Hudak also does a great turn as the Voice of God during the play's one stumble-it's abrupt and contrived ending.   

By comparison to Chad and Jerrod, the prodigy of the Prince of Lies is a keeper.  Luke Roberts delivers a very attractive and amiable Abaddon, who goes by the name of Jack.  He is a devil-may-care character comfortable with his parentage but seemingly disinterested in the family business.  Roberts raises the temperature in the theater a few notches during each shirtless lip-lock with Andrew and when his true colors seep through the façade.

Only Andrew's gal pal, Bernadette, sees Jack for what he really is and is brazen enough to call him on it.  Lauren Smith is wonderful as Andrew's highly strung high maintenance guardian angel and voice of reason. 

Director Clyde Simon gives this production the light tone, fast pace and high energy it requires.  He also localizes the playwright's numerous points of reference and employs actors as prop holders, which is a nice touch.

Simon strategically employs every corner of the small, intimate space in the Liminis Theater.  Only the screens projecting images intended to complement the action on stage manage to distract from it.  Seeing footage of a washer and dryer in action is an interesting way to help establish the pretense of being in a laundry room, but it is hardly worth taking your eyes off the lead actors and the always-interesting Tyson Rand and Tony Thai in supporting roles to do so.

For those who like a good story about love gone bad set within a funny gay cult thriller, and who doesn't, Say You Love Satan is playing through September 25 in nearby Tremont.  

 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.neohiopal.org/pipermail/neohiopal-neohiopal.org/attachments/20100909/7d4b4703/attachment-0003.htm>