As the lights dim in the Shapiro Theater, we meet Mrs. Slater (Catherine Wagner '09), a mentally unhinged widow operating a colorfully decorated laundromat with her skateboarder son Gene (Michael Carnow '07). On the morning of Gene's 21st birthday, Mrs. Slater decides to send her son on a mission to avenge the death of his father, who was mysteriously murdered in the Pocono Mountains. It's an intriguing setup, but soon enough, and before you even notice, the conductor (read: playwright) apparently jumps ship as the story rides straight off the tracks and into a canyon of sheer convolution.

So began A Devil Inside, the 1997 play written by David Lindsay-Abaire, most famous for Fuddy Meers (1999), and staged by the Brandeis Ensemble Theater this weekend. A Devil Inside was his first work, a fact that becomes painfully obvious as the plot opens itself up to the audience.

We are soon introduced to Carl (Aaron Arbiter '10), a deranged professor of Russian literature, his spellbound student Caitlin (Erika Geller '09), Lily (Sarah Jacobs '09), an art student obsessed with feet and Brad (Josh Mervis '08), a dull but delusional repairman. Inexplicably brought together by missing feet and a mystical tie pin, the cast members shoot, choke and stab each other (and themselves) as they hack their way to the truth behind the murder ofGene's father.

While all the ingredients for a unique theatre experience seemed to be present, the experience never gelled during Friday's performance. The plot was a mish-mash of overly convenient coincidences with about as much focus as a broken camera.

Based on what little sense could be made of it, the show seeks to depict the brutal and comedic aspects of human tragedy. If this seems like a strange message, then you have a good idea of what the play had to offer. Wavering between absurd farce and serious drama, A Devil Inside never stepped confidently or convincingly into either realm.

A sense of hesitation was visible in the cast, which often seemed confused over what mood to conjure. The beginnings of both acts felt less like performances and more like rehearsals, with the actors listlessly reciting their lines. Only Mervis and Arbiter were able to convey successfully the insanity that the play required. Arbiter lectured the audience passionately about his own spiral into madness, referencing Fyodor Dostoyevskys application to daily life, while Mervis gave a highly animated demonstration of descent into head-trauma-induced insanity and violently wrestling with inner demons. And yet, save for the end of both acts, a general lack of enthusiasm dwarfed even these few great performances.

Oftentimes, perfectly capable and engaging actors will be stifled by an unfocused script whose plot drives forward with all the speed and power of a golf cart with its parking brake on. But with A Devil Inside, it seemed as if both the actors and the script were locked in a war of attrition, each dragging the other down with a lack of cohesive direction.

Director Kenny Fuentes '07 said in an interview with the Justice that A Devil Inside's purpose lies in "taking the grand epic storylines of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky and reducing them to pure emotions." Unfortunately, that purpose was lost on this reviewer.