Directed by Susan Schoaps, "Corpse!" is a well executed high-energy play, completely fun, completely engrossing. Although the script uses a lot of standard dramatic devices, (the Evil Twin, the Unpredictable Poison, the Secret Revenge), it uses them so well, so naturally, that it's difficult to imagine the state of affairs unfolding any other way.

Michael Swanson plays the dual characters of scheming Evelyn and stolid Rupert Farrant. In past Pentacle work, Swanson has demonstrated a remarkable ability to find depth in quiet characters. His current roles could not be louder, and he seems less at home inside them. Swanson plays the first four scenes of "Corpse!" as if in a hurry to get through them; not relishing the sad maliciousness of Evelyn and barely inhabiting Rupert. Eventually Swanson's hurry to reach the last scene can be forgiven. There his performance becomes so strong that it is reasonable to think he was conserving energy in order to unleash hell in the final thrilling minutes of the play.

Similarly, Logan's Major Powell also bides his time, moving plainly and cautiously through the performance, waiting until the second act to spill out uproarious physical comedy and confusion.

Scene-stealing credit is fully due to Maggie Dayton's Mrs. McGee. McGee is a stereotype: the boozy, slovenly old vamp, and Dayton doesn't try to elevate or pity her. Instead she embraces her so gracefully, so funnily, that the audience falls in love with her and is too busy laughing to wonder if they should feel guilty about it.

Audiences at Pentacle take the first bite of a play with their eyes, and "Corpse!" makes that bite tasty. Tony Zandol has created a brilliant revolving set, Evelyn's poverty back to back with Rupert's wealth. Wealth is hard to create in plywood, but Zandol makes up for it with delicious squalid detail in Evelyn's basement flat, down to drip marks seeping through dank walls.

"Corpse!" makes no demands for social awareness and doesn't insist its audience be educated in theatrical philosophy to enjoy it. This play's job was to be smart and fun, and it succeeded tremendously. Schoaps and her team have done all the work for you; all you need to do is be swept away by the excitement of it.