Review: ‘Killing Diaz’ at the Lounge Theatre

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How to share a one-night stand, and the same address? What looks like the setup for a romantic comedy twists into a slasher nightmare in “Killing Diaz,” Cameron Fife’s promising but shallow one-act presented by the Immediate Theatre Group at the Lounge Theatre.

Imagine “He’s Just Not That Into You” as written by Neil LaBute: Adam (Wilton Godfrey) and Cam (the playwright) are savoring the departure of their mercenary roommate, Joe (Adam Brooks), when the prodigal returns and promptly starts mooching cigarettes and talking trash about his latest conquest, a girl named Diaz who lives upstairs. She keeps calling. It’s awkward. They’ll have to do something. And their creepy friend Tyler (Max Crumm, fresh off his Broadway stint in ‘Grease,’ which he won on the TV contest ‘Grease: You’re the One That I Want’), has a final solution.

Fife has a sly way with twentysomething guy speak, deftly articulating the politics of shared apartment living; he and Godfrey have a nice rapport. But when the plot kicks in (not that the title gives it away or anything), “Diaz” loses its nervous little vibe, and director Chuck Bradley lets it sag into a lazy cartoon. The more blood, the less suspense. For his next play, Fife should keep sharp weapons where they belong — in the mouths of his characters.

—Charlotte Stoudt

“Killing Diaz,” the Lounge Theatre, 6201 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 7 p.m. Sundays. Ends Feb 1. $15. (323) 960-5080. Running time: 45 minutes.

Caption: From left, Bradford Benoit, Cameron Fife, Max Crumm and Adam Brooks in ‘Killing Diaz.’ Credit: The Immediate Theatre Group.