The satiric melodrama ”Devil’s Disciple” skewers arrogant piety and political pomposity in the solid, well-acted production on stage by Act 1 at DeSales Univerisity in Center Valley.
In George Bernard Shaw’s unusual comedic play, an unrepentant reprobate who gleefully declares he’s in the service of the devil, turns out to be more principled than any of the “proper” Puritan folk who surround him.
The story, set in 1777 during the American Revolution, focuses on Dick Dudgeon, the self-proclaimed devil’s disciple, who is played with swaggering charm and oozing sarcasm by Matt Smaldone. Smaldone makes Dick an eminently likable rogue amid the prudish hypocrites of his family.
Wayne Turney’s well-paced direction keeps the action moving with the focus on the Dudgeon family dynamics in the first act and the wry, but hilarious, repartee between Dick and the British general in the second act.
In the story, Dick’s father has died and left the house to Dick in his will to the intense consternation of Dick’s bitter and manipulative mother painted with broad angry strokes by Jillian Vinciguerra. The household terrorized by Mrs. Dudgeon, who alternately complains and cries on cue, also includes Dick’s buffoonish brother played by Sam Boelens and the abused illegitimate daughter of his late uncle, played by Taylor Congdon.
Everyone has written off Dick, who it is said “runs with the gypsies,” except the town minister, played with understated thoughtfulness by Joe Donley, who sees something good in Dick. However, Dick’s pretty wife Judith briskly played by Mackenzie Moyer, physically recoils at Dick’s presence.
Events are set in motion when British soldiers arrive to arrest the minister with the intention of hanging him, and Dudgeon allows himself to be mistaken for the minister. This act of self-sacrifice profoundly affects Judith, who has a complete change of heart, although at first it seems a little uncharacteristic.
In the second act, which is even better than the first, Dick and British Gen. John Burgoyne, played with sardonic wit by James “Bo” Sayre verbally spar as the British put Dick – still posing as the minister - through a sham of a trial. Sayre steals the show with his portrayal of the intelligent and aware Burgoyne who is surrounded by oafish underlings led by the bumbling Maj. Swindon (Andrew Scoggin). Burgoyne immediately respects Dick as a gentleman and their oh-so-civilized discourse about Dick’s impending hanging is darkly hilarious.
A last-minute denouement ties things up, but a little too neatly.
Sayre also acts as a narrator, which is a perfect vehicle for his resonant voice.
The set by Will Neuert is clever and cartoonish. A three-sided rotating set piece transformts effectively from one spare New Hampshire home to another, to a courtroom and then to a town square with a gallows.
Carton cutouts of soldiers and a horse lend an amusingly absurd note to the proceedings. Especially funny are two cartoon cutouts of British regiments which are moved around the stage by soldiers for comedic effect.
Costumes by Amy Best are very well done and perfectly fit the period. Lighting by Allison Newhard adds to the atmosphere.
“The Devil’s Disciple,” 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, DeSales University, Labuda Center, 2755 Station Ave., Center Valley. Tickets: $25, adults; $23, seniors and students. 610-282-3192, desales.edu/act1.