Last weekend the Brandeis Ensemble Theater opened the Undergraduate Theater Collectives season with a production of David Lindsay-Abaires A Devil Inside in the Shapiro Theater. Although troubled by technical issues and an especially confusing climactic scene, the strength of the cast paved the way for an overall success.
The play begins with Mrs. Slater (Catherine Wagner 09) preparing for the twenty-first birthday of her apathetic son Gene (Michael Carnow 07). During the preparations, she informs him that his father, whom Gene was told died of heart failure, was actually brutally murdered. Mrs. Slater encourages Gene to avenge his fathers death. Gene thinks little of this and goes off to class on the subway, where he finally gets the courage up to talk to Caitlin (Erika Geller 09), a classmate of his who is 'aroused' by the lectures of their Russian literature professor, Carl (Aaron Arbiter 10). Carl has his own problems, having become obsessed with killing a dull man who owns a repair shop. This dull man, Brad (Josh Mervis 08), is trying to bring excitement to his life by writing a story about a devil he sees in his wallpaper. He is also renting a room to a mysterious artist named Lily (Sarah Jacobs 09). As the play progresses, Carl becomes paranoid that the dull man will kill him first. Caitlin then steals Carls notebooks and seduces/blackmails him into going through with plans to kill Brad first. Mrs. Slater shows Gene his fathers severed feet to convince him of the truth of her story while Lily starts vomiting blood. Caitlin and Carl paralyze Gene while botching an attempt to kill Brad, and the devil Brad sees in his wallpaper comes to life to fight with him. The play concludes with four characters are dead, a fifth dying, and Gene ironically rolling away on his wheelchair to seek his fathers killer;
the killer is in fact already dead.