Cat's Paw offers a chilling view of terrorists and the people who report on them.

For audiences looking for theater that''s socially relevant and revealing, it would be hard to find a better offering than Unicorn Theatre''s current production of Cat''s Paw.

To a large extent, Cat''s Paw, written by William Mastrosimone, is a psychological thriller rummaging through the mind of a brilliant madman. Victor (Jack Stauffer) is the leader of the People''s Guard, a group of eco-terrorists outraged by the government''s lenient policies concerning safe drinking water. As the play opens, the Guard has just captured a low-ranking Environmental Protection Agency official, Darling (Erik Petersen), whom they hold captive for several weeks. Ultimately, the bulk of the play revolves around an interview with Victor that is granted to television journalist Jessica Lyons (Dawn Flood).

During the interview, Victor calmly and coldly outlines his case. Despite a car-bombing that kills innocent civilians, he says he is no terrorist. He''s an urban guerrilla, fighting a government whose kowtowing to corporate water polluters causes the deaths of some 2,800 Americans each year. By comparison, Victor argues, his acts of violence are trivial, and, if his campaign is successful, he will actually be saving lives.

Just as fascinating as the workings of Victor''s mind is Lyons'' dilemma. Offered an exclusive interview with Victor-a chance of a lifetime-Lyons is forced to interview him on his terms. Time and again, Lyons is forced to yield to Victor''s conditions if she wishes him to go on.With journalists from around the world in bed with...er, embedded with coalition forces in Iraq, Cat''s Paw offers a timely parable about the compromises reporters make to get their stories.

In that regard, Cat''s Paw covers some of the same ground as the 1992 Belgian movie Man Bites Dog, a pseudo-documentary about a news crew that tags along with a professional killer, and Oliver Stone''s splashy 1994 Natural Born Killers. But where those works relied on overt depictions of violence to slam home their points about media immorality, Cat''s Paw (first produced in 1986) is dialogue driven. There''s virtually no action in the first act, and little more in the second. Make no mistake, this is a thinking person''s play.

To the great credit of director Ralph Senensky and his cast, they make what could be a mind-numbing experience quite compelling. With the exception of the overly slow first scene, Senensky''s deliberate pacing of the play keeps the tension building as Victor adds each layer of misapplied logic and Lyons sinks deeper into a quagmire of compromise.

Stauffer presents a compelling portrait of Victor. Stauffer''s clipped and menacing approach to the character provides the picture of a literate, articulate and manipulative devil whose logic has overcome his compassion. The performance would have been even more interesting if we had also seen some of the charisma that prompted people to become his followers; it was hard to believe that this Victor would propel followers to give their lives for him.

Flood''s complicated journalist is very nicely crafted. As Lyons makes one concession after another, Flood peels back her character, showing us Lyons'' struggle to maintain some sort of journalistic integrity. If Victor lies to others, Lyons lies to herself, and through Flood''s performance, we see the desperation with which she clings to those lies until she''s forced to recognize their falsehood.

As the captured EPA official, Petersen has some strong moments, particularly late in the play as he agonizes about the length of his imprisonment and his future fate. Kristen Clapp, as one of Victor''s followers, gives a solid performance as a foot soldier willing to give her life for her leader. All the action takes place inside a warehouse, richly detailed with peeling bricks and overhead shop lights, by set designer Carey Crockett.

Cat''s Paw continues at the Carl Cherry Center through May 4. The journalist portrayed is in no way based upon the Weekly''s own Jessica Lyons, who would never compromise her ethics to interview anyone, terrorist or not.