Chicago's 1934 Century of Progress Exposition exalted a utopian ideal built on the wonders of science. David Mamet's shocking 1977 thriller, The Water Engine," probes the dark underside of that ideal. Though melodramatic, it's hardly sentimental.

Gremlin Theatre's harrowing revival of Mamet's early gem, written as a radio play, opened at St. Paul's Loading Dock Theater last weekend. Katherine Horowitz's live sound effects, matched with A. Emily Heaney's costumes and Tamatha Miller's '30s radio studio set, evoke a vivid sense of style and period.

Part-time inventor, Charles Lang (Matt Rein) creates an engine that runs on water. When he attempts to have it patented, he is thwarted by a monolith of organized crime, media, and policemen subversively marshalled by industry.

Mamet injects Century of Progress public announcements and short Depression-era political riffs. Director Sarah Gioia's superb ensemble plays numerous characters and vocal rhythms distinctly.

Rein brings devastating innocence to Lang, a sensitive man targeted ruthlessly by the macho powers that be. Heather Stone, poignant as his sister, Rita, elicits childlike defiance of those who threaten her brother's dream. Sam L. Landman's Oberman, a corporate attorney, personifies chillingly the surveilling reach of Chicago's criminal underground.

John Townsend is a Minneapolis writer.

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