Colorado Springs FAC production of Jen Silverman’s comedy crackles with two veteran actors at the top of their game.

There is something about the bad girl that titillates, and The Roommate has all the trappings of sucking you in. Running through March 1 at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, two veteran actors create mesmerizing synergy as they navigate their comic mismatch as unlikely housemates in the rural Midwest.

Jen Silverman’s The Roommate is a dark comedy whose recipe combines the lighthearted humor of the Odd Couple with a dash of Breaking Bad for spice. Sharon, played by Susan Dawn Carson, is a timid Iowa divorcee and empty nester in need of a roommate. Enter Robyn (Elise Santora) a brash, mysterious New Yorker with decades of nefarious secrets.

The women’s mutually beneficial living arrangement percolates slowly — then implodes.  Carson’s Sharon is nosey and needy, yet coy and curious like an impish child. Santora’s Robyn is bold and brazen with glimpses of vulnerability. She cannot resist flaunting her schemes for the high of Sharon’s admiration.

Robyn’s life as a career grifter hits the thrill button for Sharon. She prods Robyn to divulge her tricks, learning of phone scams and fraudulent schemes which are suddenly on her mid-life crisis bucket list.  Sharon is all in, bent on reinventing herself.

Yin and yang

It’s the yin and yang of the characters that makes The Roommate work. Sharon and Robyn could be easily overplayed into caricatures. Instead, the play’s tone is muted, the chuckles small and the undercurrent of unrest steady. Carson hones Sharon into a worthy accomplice for Robyn as Santora tries to quell the monster she’s created.

Santora clearly revels in her Robyn persona. The cadence of her speech, swagger of her movements and stern intensity capture the sketchy Robyn perfectly. Yet her humanity kicks in when she sees her shady-self emerging in Sharon.

Carson embodies Sharon’s transformation. She smokes weed for a first time, internet-dates and then devolves giddily into identity theft and forgery. Her curiosity is relatable, her tip-toeing credible. Still, her descent into debauchery seems over the top for a naïve Midwestern housewife whose only outside interest is her book club.

Although set in the present day, there is a wall-mounted gold landline with long spiralized phone cord and cable TV references that harken back to the 2000s. This Midwesterner recognizes the Early American decor of the ’70s, with a veneer hutch cabinet and knickknacks galore. Yet Robyn’s edgy attire and spikey ’do is spot-on 2020s. Sharon, however, seems in a time warp.

A nod to lighting designer Holly Anne Rawls who artfully illuminates the stagnant set. Warm amber glows light up the old house, shifting the scene’s focus and transporting the audience through time from sunrise to sunset. Sound and staging create a flow even when pacing slows and lines seem repetitive. Sometimes less is more and a silent pause is more impactful than a flurry of words.

The Roommate is a two-person character study of mid-life transformations that lead to unintended consequences. Choose your friends carefully and take the high road.