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Under the Radar: Roundup #1

A scene from The Devil You Know (© Richard Termine)

Ping Chong's The Devil You Know, performing at La MaMa E.T.C., is a charming puppet theater adaptation of Stephen Vincent Benet's short story "The Devil and Daniel Webster." Created in association with the multi-disciplinary troupe Phantom Limb, the piece emphasizes the fable-like nature of the tale, about a Faustian bargain struck between poor farmer Jabez Stone (voiced by Mark Jaynes) and the devil, who goes by the name of Scratch (voiced by Steven Rattazzi).

The dialogue is pre-recorded, and features narration by director/adaptor Chong along with the vocal talents of several others, including Michael Pemberton as lawyer and politician Daniel Webster (based on the real-life figure of the same name) and the fabulous Lola Pashalinski as Ma. Some of the lines might come across as overly cheesy if delivered by flesh and blood actors, but when matched to the puppets, they somehow seem appropriate.

Among the production's biggest assets are the detailed marionettes designed by Erik Sanko, which are given life by a terrific team of puppeteers (Sabrina D'Angelo, Oliver Dalzell, Marta Mozelle MacRostie, Ronny Wasserstrom, Anne Posluszny, Jenny Campbell, Matthew Leabo, Edouard Sanko, and Michael Schupbach). They manage to make the stylized figures extremely expressive -- particularly in some of the early scenes with Jabez, Webster's big court scene in front of a jury of the damned, and a modern-day figure driving a car.

However, while that last-mentioned puppet -- which the performers manipulate by hand instead of strings -- is nicely utilized, Chong's incorporation of present-day figures isn't as well-realized as it should be. Presumably, these puppets (which also include a woman on a BlackBerry) are meant to punch up the contemporary relevance of the story, which serves as a cautionary tale about greed and ambition at the expense of others. However, they seem shoehorned into the tale, which otherwise unfolds with a mesmerizing beauty.

-- Dan Bacalzo

 

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