Set in the offices of a third-rate property management company in Winston-Salem, N.C., MacLachlan's new drama is a love quadrangle draped over the bones of a plot that is driven by a scheme to commit mischief against a ambiguous charismatic religious organization. The caper, with its are-you-in-or-out overtones of American Buffalo, falls by the wayside in the second act, which takes too long to reach its inevitable conclusion.

Woolly newcomer Dana Acheson, as Ina, in a nifty second-act monologue, captures some of the attraction and fear associated with the fundamentalist (Christian? Islamic?) group. But the play needs direct contact, direct conflict with someone from that group to realize its intentions. Acheson swings easily from giddy to deadpan; she has a cute bit nibbling away at her Carl's Jr. breakfast.

Janis Dardaris's sleazy property manager Erin is given an opportunity to explain her hatred of the mysterious church, but it's not quite convincing. Yet she does have a sweet moment with her goldfish. Young gormless horndog Steve Enloe, played by Jeremy Beazlie, never shows us why so many women are after him.

Daniel MacLean Wagner bathes the set in unflinching fluorescent light.

posted: 11:33:55 PM