'The Altruists' opens LateNight with bang

LateNight @ the Footlight opened Thursday night with a biting social satire of self-centered twenty-somethings by Nicky Silver, a sometime darling of the Off-Broadway theater scene.

His "The Altruists" is a tightly written, 90-minute study of five egocentric characters who are anything but selfless social benefactors. Silver apparently has created portraits of people he intensely dislikes -- deluded romantics.

Director Robbie Thomas set a break-neck pace, keeping the actors on their toes and the lighting director jumping as the scenes alternate between three apartments and speedy dialogue exchanges. By changing the age of the characters from thirty-somethings, they are more forgivable for their neuroses, however.

As the amorous gay social worker Ronald, Jesse Budi created the perfect chump. The hysterical soap-opera star Sydney, Ronald's sister, was correctly and glamorously portrayed by Charley Boyd.

Nick Smithson made believable the stupid and stoned street hustler Lance. Emily McKay depicted the impractical Cybil, who forgets what the big protest rally is for and can't make up her mind as to her sexual orientation. William Haden expertly parodied the womanizing activist Ethan.

"The Altruists" continues through Feb. 27 at 20 Queen St. in Charleston. The performances begin at 9 p.m.