Piccolo Spoleto: A Brief Guide to A Devil Inside

Center Stage likes black comedy

BY NICK SMITH

What is it? David Lindsay-Abaire's 1997 play about a young man who learns that his missing 400-pound dad was murdered while hiking through the Poconos. The youth sets out to avenge his father's death.

Why see it? Lindsay-Abaire has playwriting awards out the wazoo, including a Pulitzer, an L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award, and an award from the S.C. Playwrights Festival. With A Devil Inside, he's created a cruel yet wildly imaginative world that maintains a loose orbit around contemporary culture. The young protagonist and the wacky milieu are perfect for the College of Charleston's theater department.

Who should go? Fathers, sons, hikers, PURE Theatre regulars, and other fans of finely written, quirky, contemporary theater. Morbidly obese folks might want to sit this one out.

PICCOLO SPOLETO • $12-$15 • 2 hours • June 4-7 at 7:30 p.m. • Theatre 220, Simons Center for the Arts, 54 St. Philip St. • (888) 374-2656