The Vandal ***

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Actor Hamish Linklater's (School for Lies, Seminar) debut effort as a playwright is now at The Flea Theater. Deirdre O'Connell (Circle Mirror Transformation, In the Wake) plays a withdrawn woman waiting for a bus at a stop in Kingston, NY near a hospital and a cemetery. Noah Robbins (The Twenty-Seventh Man) portrays a loquacious, philosophical 17-year old boy who pesters her until she agrees to buy him beer at a nearby liquor store. The somewhat menacing man who owns the liquor store, played by Zach Grenier (33 Variations, The Good Wife), claims to be the boy's father. In each of four scenes in which the characters exchange self-protective lies, the woman appears with either the boy or the man. There is a big reveal near the end that changes your understanding of all that has preceded. The actors are all top-notch and the dialog flows effortlessly. Clearly Linklater has a love of words and a talent for giving actors a chance to shine. A lengthy monologue in praise of Cool Ranch Doritos may not sound enticing, but it drew applause. The set by David M. Barber is modest, but efficient. Claudia Brown's costumes are fine. Jim Simpson's direction is smooth. The play seems a bit slight and the ending a bit flat. Nevertheless, Linklater shows a lot of promise and I look forward to seeing his next effort. Running time: 75 minutes.

Heresy *

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Even as capable a playwright as A.R. Gurney can miss the mark occasionally, as he has with this lame parody at The Flea. It may have seemed a clever idea to transpose New Testament figures into a dystopian America of the near future, but it doesn't work for me. Joseph (Steve Mellor) and Mary (Annette O'Toole) have come to see Pontius (Reg E. Cathey), the prefect of the New American National Guard to plead for their son Chris, who has been arrested in the most recent in a long series of crackdowns. They are soon joined by Phyllis (Kathy Najimy), Pontius's ditsy wife; Pedro (Danny Rivera), the college roommate who betrayed Chris; and Lena -- short for Magdalena -- (Ariel Woodiwiss), a sex worker who has fallen for Chris. The proceedings are being transcribed by Pontius's aide Mark (Tommy Crawford), who has a way with words. Get the picture? It is always fun to see Najimy in action. Cathey gets a few laughs too, but most of the proceedings are leaden and lack bite. The play seemed far longer than its 85 minutes. Kate Foster's set makes a convincing meeting room for high government officials. Claudia Brown's costumes are amusing. The play was directed by Jim Simpson, The Flea's founder and artistic director.