Father of Lies

Excerpted from Theater Review (NYC): Father of Lies on Blogcritics.

Director Jose Zayas's adaptation of Brian Evenson's thriller/exposé is not for the faint of heart. A slowly curdling psychological horror story of sexual abuse, murder, and mutilation, it plunges past merely common evil into that region of nothingness described in the play as making hell seem like "a picnic." Fate closes in around a young Mormon churchman and new father named Fochs, played acutely by the excellent Evan Enderle who clearly conveys the impression the clergyman makes upon his wife and superiors as a mere man, if a serious and vaguely troubled one. His demonic side is so distinct it appears separately, played with delicious, subtle creepiness by Richard Toth. Zayas's nuanced script comes alive through the mouths—and bodies—of his well-chosen cast, including the superb Jocelyn Kuritsky who thoroughly convinces as the trusting wife gradually realizing that the accusations of child abuse brought against her husband by two pious mothers may not be lies—and that Fochs may have even worse within him.