Morality, ethics, guilt, broken dreams and addictions are all themes that evolve in philosophical discussions between two unlikely characters in the world premiere of "The Stenographer," on stage at Venus Theatre, on C Street, through Sept. 25.

Written by Greek actor and playwright Zoe Mavroudi, the play is one of four that theater founder Deb Randall chose from a stack of submissions for this year's production season. Randall said "The Stenographer" made the cut because it was different from anything she had done in the past and described it as a magical, intelligent work.

The present-day play, set in a college town outside New York City, opens as a college professor in stereotypical garb is seen drinking heavily while pontificating about the novel "Crime and Punishment," by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. A stripper, dressed in a short mini-skirt and stiletto boots, sits on a sofa listening, tolerantly, almost as if she's a part of the audience.

Both characters, who are nameless, have secrets. As the play progresses, it is revealed that they are not as transparent as one might initially assume — the complexity of each being exposed as the two challenge each other in unexpected ways.

"We make assumptions when we first look at him and her. But he's not as together as we think, and she's not as disposable as you'd think," said Randall, who is directing the play. "When I first read the script, the human connection and the relationship these two formed in front of my eyes was magical."

At first glance, the professor, who's just been approved for tenure, appears overly confident and talks down to the woman in a manner that gives the impression that he thinks he's above the stripper intellectually. But as their conversation develops, he and the audience realize that she has ideas of her own, can go toe-to-toe with him intellectually and dreams of being a novelist.

"You get to experience an unexpected journey with them as Zoe has pierced through the stereotypes and gets to the heart of the characters. She goes beyond their shells — how she's dressed and him as the professor — and we see them connect on an intellectual level and not a sexual level."

That connection includes the fact that the stripper attended college for a year and was one of the professor's students. But that was nine years ago and, to her dismay, he doesn't remember her.

She hates being called a dancer and only became a stripper when she ran out of money. In the play, she still refers to herself as a student.

"As time flew by, she got trapped as a stripper and is upset that the professor doesn't remember her because college was a pivotal moment in her life. But for him, there's no recognition," Randall said.

Although there are only two characters in "The Stenographer," the novel "Crime and Punishment" is almost a third character, always lurking in the background. The professor has a long-winded opening monologue on the novel's plot, which centers on a student named Raskolnikov who commits two murders and tries to justify it throughout the book.

There are many parallels between the novel and Mavroudi's play. Although the professor hasn't committed a murder, like Raskolnikov, the professor has gotten away with a heinous act and guilt over what he has done has led to his downfall: In the case of the professor, that downfall finds him frequently drowning himself in alcoholic binges after the loss of his professional and personal dreams.

"Zoe uses 'Crime and Punishment' in smart ways by using the tone and intention of the novel and putting it in a contemporary world in brilliant ways," Randall said. "Drinking was a suicidal layer of the novel and the culture of drinking and how it affects people in different ways — some appear smarter the more they drink — is evident in the play. Also, both (male) characters in the book and novel made choices that led to giving up on their dreams to the point that they stopped writing and checked out."

In addition, Randall pointed out that the love interest of the main character in the novel is a prostitute and Mavroudi's female character is a stripper; although it is not clear that she is a prostitute, even though the professor is paying her for the time she spends with him.

Creating a role

Frank Britton, a 1997 graduate of Laurel High School, plays the professor. Britton is a member of the WSC Avant Bard theater group, formerly the Washington Shakespeare Company who has starred in numerous roles at area theaters. He said that in addition to being attracted to the story line of the script, he appreciated the professor's shortcomings.

"He's very flawed and a very driven man who loves what he does up to a certain extent," Britton said. "Flaws in characters fascinate me."

As for the script itself, Britton said, "I loved the heightened sense of drama of the play. The slow build into revelations is great, and the play ends at the right time: It's tight."

Because of the prominent role of "Crime and Punishment" in the play, Britton said he read the novel for the first time after accepting the role because of the numerous connections between the play and novel.

"Reading it helped me with the play because the professor evangelizes the book, and it is so much a part of his life. He's made the novel his life for so long and held it up to so much esteem that it's almost gospel to him, which I find fascinating," Britton said.

Although the professor is in his 50s and Britton is only 32, he said the role was not a major stretch for him because he considers himself a character actor and recalled that in his first professional role, when he was 22, he played an older Asian man in an all-Asian cast. What he does find a bit challenging is that "The Stenographer," a 120-minute play with no intermission, is his first role in a two-character production.

"Four is the smallest cast I've been in, so the concentration on us is magnified 100 times. We don't leave the stage, so every move and breath is important," he said. "Plus, this is a new play, and it's exciting to create this role and use my imagination to tap into what the professor has done, which is something that I've never done."

Prior to the play opening and throughout rehearsals, Randall said she was in constant touch with Mavroudi by telephone, video blogging and email between Laurel and Greece and, later, London, where Mavroudi is currently starring in a play she wrote, "Beauty is Prison-Time." Although Randall said she was given free reign on "The Stenographer," she did bounce ideas off Mavroudi and made one major change at the playwright's suggestion.

"When I started the staging, I wanted to show the characters' addictions, the drinking and dancing, and I had some erotic dancing in but took it out because Zoe thought her dancing changed their relationship, and the audience would stereotype her and not focus on her intellect, and I agreed," Randall said. "Zoe makes her (female) character an equal human being with the professor. She goes past the sex industry in the play to find out who's in there, who's the individual, and it's a powerful journey for the audience."

For ticket information for "The Stenographer," go to http://www.venustheatre.org. Venus Theatre is located at 21 C St., off Laurel's Main Street in the Arts District.