Mallory/Valerie

Anyone familiar with the plot of The Beaver will be prepared to cringe at the central conceit of Mallory/Valerie, in which a chronic depressive, Valerie, speaks through a therapeutic hand puppet, Mallory, and the other characters mostly don't mind. Here, the puppet and her manipulator (Aliee Chan) live in a humble shack and are reduced to pleasuring their dealer-landlord-boyfriend, Pierce (David Marconi), for their daily crack fix (perversely, he kisses the childlike puppet instead of the person). When Val decides she wants a friend, hymn-singing runaway Paula (Sarah Grodsky) appears, followed by her controlling beau, James (Brendan Hahn). All involved are victims of the foul-mouthed puppet’s insults, which are never as sassy as they should be. Then a history of sexual abuse is revealed, which makes the audience squirm. Finally, a bit of horror-movie mischief ends up lightening the mood and redeeming the show—if not any of the characters. (Visit our Fringe Festival page for more reviews, and fringenyc.org for more information.)—Andrew Frisicano