Excerpt from
2 Ways to Deal With the Devil
(New York Times Theater
Review, December 4, 1989)
by Frank Rich
...Shel Silverstein, whose extended monologue, "The Devil and Billy Markham," opens "Oh, Hell," is
also a Mamet colleague--whether in one-act bills at the Ensemble Studio Theater, in contributing to
the pages of Playboy magazine or in collaborating on the screenplay for "Things Change." Mr.
Silverstein, who may be best known for his songs and children's books, can also be an antic
playwright. He once reduced "Hamlet" to a country-western ballad (in "The Crate"), and he has also
reimagined "Faust" in the terms of contemporary television game shows ("The Lady or the Tiger").
But "The Devil and Billy Markham," however redolent of its author's idiosyncratic voice, quickly
proves to be the hell an audience must slog through to get to "Bobby Gould."
The play, performed by the rock singer Dennis Locorriere, is occasionally sung but mostly talked
blues (in verse) that recounts the attempts of a Nashville singer to beat the devil in craps, pool, and
love. There are some inside jokes about the recording industry, many harmless effusions of scatology
and, near the end, a playful description of a devil's wedding at which Catherine the Great is "making a
date with the horse of Paul Revere." Just about any five minutes of "The Devil and Billy Markham"
would convey enough of its flavor. It goes on for nearly an hour.
Under Mr. Mosher's direction, Mr. Locorriere gives an ingratiating performance, and he works hard
enough to break out in a hellish sweat. The audience's sweat is prompted by anxiety. Watching "The
Devil and Billy Markham" is like being trapped at a bar with an amiable drunk who simply refuses to
let go of your arm or his convoluted, often-told tale. You know the spiel won't end until one of you
falls off his stool.
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