Actor [& YIB Member] finds himself the devil onstage

26 ARTS2 AUGUST 11, 2006 THE JEWISH ADVOCATE

Actor finds himself the devil onstage
By Jules Becker

Does Shawn LaCount play the Devil religiously?

Considering that the Bostonbased 30-year old Jewish actordirector has tackled the formidable role four times, that might be more than a fair statement.

What makes his association with the notorious character all the more interesting is that La- Count conscientiously observes his religion.

The busy Company One artistic director recently discussed that observance with the Advocate, as well as his performance as Satan in the group’s summer staging of “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot” and the acclaimed troupe’s upcoming season.

LaCount has played various manifestations of the Devil as long as he has studied Judaism and tried his hand at acting – in fact, since childhood. Once a student at Temple Israel in Boston, and now a member of Young Israel in Brookline, the Sabbath-observing performer landed the flashy role of diabolical Applegate in his eighth-grade production of the musical “Damn Yankees” and Lucifer at Brookline High. He even portrayed Mephistopheles in a staging of “Faust” at Clark University, where he majored in theater education.

While never fearful of being type-cast or possessed, the Company One co-founder has established a Shabat tradition of “inviting almost the entire company to a multicultural dinner,” he said.

He noted that as an observant Jew, of course, he neither deals with money nor drives on the Sabbath. Still, LaCount admitted, he is quite comfortable with the limitations his religious commitments entail.

A teacher and a master’s in fine arts candidate at the University of Massachusetts- Amherst, LaCount has staged a Kirsten Greenidge short play at the recent Boston Playwrights Marathon and “A Clockwork Orange” at the BCA, among other efforts.

As for Satan, he welcomed the role’s demands. Calling him “a character who may or may not exist,” LaCount remarked, “He always has a tremendous amount of power.”

Stephen Adly Giurgis is an important, even gifted, writer. If his plays are sometimes uneven, Company One’s efforts with them are consistently inspired. Their just-closed staging of “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot,” while not quite as arresting as the troupe’s earlier Elliot Norton Award-winning “Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train,” does prove tighter than their solid middle Giurgis effort “Den of Thieves.”

A generally first-rate ensembleprovided further evidence that Company One, as Improper Bostonian Magazine judged in its “Best of 2006” issue, provides the Hub’s best fringe theater. Dynamic Juanita Rodrigues made Iscariot’s mother Henrietta instantly touching defending her son. George Saulnier had all of the Judge’s disturbing bias and bigotry and brought pathos to the tricky role of Jewish leader Caiaphas.

Mason Sand brought scenestealing unctuousness to opportunistic prosecutor El-Fayoumy.Cliff Odle was so good as PontiusPilate that he almost made him seem a victim of circumstance.

Dressed as stylishly as John Gotti, LaCount’s tough-talking Satan had the charisma and theatrical élan to impress an audience of rabbis. The curious weak links here were the underwritten Judas and Judas, respectively underplayed by Raymond Ramirez and Nael Nacer.

Guirgis ought to do more with the ties and tensions between the title defendant and his famous best friend. Still, Company One has blessed his provocative play with an ample hearing.

“The Last Days of Judas Iscariot” will have Company One fans impatient for the new season. LaCount promised an intriguing opener with the area premiere of “After Ashley” by Gina Gionfriddo. A 2004 Humana Festival selection and Off- Broadway offering, Gionfriddo’s play (at the Plaza Theatre, BCA Oct. 27 to Nov. 18) deals with media exploitation of the rape and murder of a mother as her widowed husband publishes a book about the tragedy.

A new special ticket feature for Hub theatergoers is “The Company Card,” the troupe’s first discount season pass. Company One fans can find out more about the card at companyone.org.