The Theater: Word Games

THE WAGER

Written by MARK MEDOFF

Directed by ANTHONY PERKINS

This is a pin wheel of a comedy, shooting off sparks of wit, menace and surprise at a fast clip. Two pairs of ill-assorted roommates are living in a high-rise apartment on a Northern California campus. There is Ward, a jock who scores as often off as on the field, sharing digs with Leeds, a malicious intellectual who can only win with wit. Right next door lives Ron, a microbiologist of genius, and his faithless wife Honor. When Ward boasts that he can seduce Honor, Leeds bets him that if he does so, Ron will kill Ward within 48 hours. The resulting anarchy smacks of both the Marx brothers and Sleuth and produces two good performances, from Kenneth Oilman as Ward and Kristoffer Tabori as Leeds. Mark Medoff, whose play When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder? was an off-Broadway success last season, has a rare talent for juxtaposing fear and fun. Though The Wager lacks enough emotional depth to make Medoff's high speed verbal games truly revealing of character and motive, this is his best play so far, and it seems to signal even better plays to come.

Gina Mallet