Betrayal and revenge are the subject of "Address Unknown," a much-boiled-down stage adaptation of a provocative 1938 novel by Kathrine Kressmann Taylor. The play, with two fine actors, Jim Dale and William Atherton, as the sole performers, just opened at the Promenade Theatre in New York City. "Address" runs for only 75-minutes. That's scant time to cover its tale of two men whose lives take radically different paths in the early 1930s, when Hitler rises to power. An excellent display of acting by the pair of actors is not enough to compensate for the sketchy approach to such a complex tale. It comes off merely as a vignette, an example of a Reader's Digest Most Interesting Character or a dark short story by O. Henry. In its oblique indictment of Nazism, it fails to build enough power to make that horrific period in history come back to life. That's true for those of us who remember World War II; for the younger generation it will seem as tame as office politics. Well intended as it may be, this short work hasn't the scope or detail of the novel or the 1944 film, which starred Morris Carnovsky and Paul Lukas. The program for this new play credits director Frank Dunlop with having "edited" Taylor's work, rather than adapting it. The entire script is made up of letters between Max Eisenstein (Dale) and Martin Schulse (Atherton), two longtime friends and business partners in a San Francisco art gallery. Schulse, impressed by what he believes is a turning point in the economics of his homeland, has taken his family back to Germany to live. Through Martin's letters, Max realizes his old friend is becoming infatuated with Hitler and his politics. It is not long before Martin writes to Max telling him he has joined the government and asking him to sever their friendship. Having a close relationship or business connections with a Jew would be detrimental to his position in the Third Reich, or even dangerous. When Hitler seizes power in March 1933, Max is fearful for the safety of his actress sister in Berlin and writes Martin, asking him to help keep her safe. When Martin is complicit in her death by SS troops, Max plans a subtle but fatal retaliation. The action takes place on James Youman's efficient set, divided to represent Max's offices and the country mansion near Munich where Martin lives. Dale and Atherton often break the invisible line between those two distant locations, walking into the other man's area and delivering the lines of the correspondence as if actually addressing the person to whom they were written. There is no give-and-take dialogue. Both actors are in good form, but Dale gives the more animated performance. His character is much more lively and outspoken, and because he is the final snake in the grass he gets the spotlight near the end of the evening. Atherton brings a growing air of the sinister to his part and almost convinces us Martin truly believes the torch he is following is the right one. To think he could make such a commitment, with all of its bloodstained consequences, however, would require more than the brief arguments he has time to make. Director Dunlop paces his cast well and keeps the performance from becoming a static reading, but this brief "Address Unknown" is just a quick snapshot of a painful era.

"Address Unknown" is playing at the Promenade Theatre, 2162 Broadway at 76th Street, New York City. Performances are Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., and matinees Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 3. Tickets are $40 to $65; call TeleCharge at (212) 239-6200.