Theater Online - New York Theater Reviews

Did you know that God isn't the only one with ten commandments“ It turns out the Devil has his own ten, and while they may not be a well known as God's, he is just as serious about making sure they are followed.

Henry (Roy Clary) finds this out when he comes face to face with the Devil (Sergei Burbank) while floating in the void. The last thing he remembers is going to bed with his wife. Now he's floating through space in a coffin he can't get out of, with a bottle of wine that never empties, an erection that never wilts, and a beautiful young Woman (Anna Marie Sell) who passes by him from time to time without acknowledging him. He gets notes occasionally, perhaps from God, with inscrutable messages like "Love is the Answer." Is he in Hell? Purgatory? He can only speculate.

This goes on for seconds, minutes, perhaps even years. Time holds no meaning in the void, and it passes without change. That is until the Woman finally speaks to Henry. She's brought a message, a message that ushers in the Devil who wants to talk about Henry's life and judge it for its shortcomings. Turns out God doesn't have the monopoly on judging man, either. More than that, though, the Devil offers Henry a Faustian bargain. If Henry renounces God and the afterlife, the Devil will grant him release. From his coffin. From his memories. From existence itself. He offers Henry the ultimate gift of nonbeing and allows him to go out on a high note - re-experiencing one true moment of happiness between his younger self (Gary Patent) and his wife Laura (Hannah Beck).

Timor Mortis, James O'Connor's darkly comic tale, takes its name from a Latin phrase - timor mortis conturbat me. The fear of death disturbs me. Henry isn't necessarily disturbed by the fear of death, he's more disturbed by the monotonous afterlife into which he has been thrust. Left to an eternity stuck in a box with nothing but memories of his life to keep him company, it's no wonder that the Devil's offer of oblivion seems so tempting. With no sign of God, and a Devil who seems to understand the loneliness of being human, Henry is hard pressed to come up with a good reason to stick around.

While much of this is due to O'Connor's well-written script, Sergei Burbank deserves a great deal of the credit for his standout portrayal of the Devil. One expects the Great Deceiver to be silver-tongued, but Burbank's Devil is glib, humorous, and more importantly, compassionate. He may hate God (and my goodness, how he hates God!), but he seems to have a soft spot for mankind. Perhaps this soft spot has more to do with depriving God of another soul, but perhaps not. He may just want to end mankind's misery.

Roy Clary's performance is remarkably agile, if one can call a performance by a man who never leaves his coffin agile. He slips easily from moments of joy to bemusement to frustration to acceptance in a very natural way. Despite being given some rather graphic, and intentionally provocative, sexual dialogue, Clary performs unselfconsciously with the air of a man with nothing left to hide or lose.

Ably directed by Marlene Clary, Timor Mortis is a fascinating rumination on the nature of death and existence, good and evil, love and hate. The Conflict of Interest Theatre Company does a marvelous job bringing this thought-provoking piece to life.