Stephen Adly Guirgis' 2003 dark comedy Den of Thieves is one heck of a good time. Four hopeless, degenerate losers spend most of Act One planning a heist that only idiots could mess up. Or so they declare nonchalantly before the lights die down. The next scene opens with the crew tied to chairs in a mobster's back room, about to be tortured and killed. Events take a turn for the unexpected, however, when their captor proposes a merciful sentence: Three will live. One will die. And before dawn, they must choose from among themselves who that one will be.

Thus begins a torrent of humorous, emotional, and often screamed pleas as each character attempts to convince the others that he or she should live. Arguments range from insightful social commentary to absurdity - one character promises to haunt another, claiming, "I'll be all like boo 'n' shit." The script is flavored by wonderful one-line zingers like this, and director Britt Olsen-Ecker doesn't miss a beat delivering them. The writer/actor/singer debuts her directing talent with Glass Mind Theatre's second-season opener, and it would appear a talent has arrived. Audience attendance was sparse on opening night, but Glass Mind is a newcomer to the Baltimore theater scene. Judging from this production, it is likely to be a strong voice.

Of course, that voice would be better appreciated if the sound system at Load of Fun didn't have a minor meltdown every few scenes, making strange noises for a few seconds before returning to normalcy - not to mention the footsteps from the floor above occasionally drowning out the actors. And the lighting often misses the mark. Sometimes the audience is lit up, sometimes the stage isn't, and sometimes lights flicker for no particular reason.

Yet these quirks almost work with this play, largely because of the degenerate nature of the characters: kleptomaniacs, druggies, gamblers, murderers. The simplicity of the set design - a couple of chairs and a makeshift curtain - focuses the audience's attention on the strength of the actors, where it most certainly belongs.

Sarah Ford Gorman plays Maggie, a depressed kleptomaniac attempting to regain control over her life through a 12-step program. Gorman shines as the lead female, bringing an electrifying energy and neuroticism to the stage. One wouldn't want to meet Maggie on the street, but Gorman manages to make a compulsive liar and thief sympathetic. She becomes the overeating, thieving delinquent with a heart of gold, and you find yourself hoping for her redemption.

Gorman's emotional trajectory plays wonderfully off of her admirer Paul (J Hargrove). Paul is a recovering klepto whose adoptive grandfather once ran the eponymous Den of Thieves, a troupe of Jewish safe robbers who donated all their profits to libraries. Hargrove does an excellent job playing the guy you pray will just get killed already. From his annoying nasally voice to his penchant for calling everyone an overeater, the self-righteous loudmouth isn't "ashamed to say I love me."

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