When cruelty spools out gently and gradually, the witness to it barely notices. However, after a wholesome, middle-aged man morphs from a butterfly of geniality into an ugly, devouring canker worm, the “in-your-face” transformation appalls. John Krasinski reverse engineers Roger’s good-guy persona (think Jim Halpert, “The Office”), into a self-satisfied misogynist in the one-man show Angry Alan. Presented as a limited engagement, Angry Alan, directed by Sam Gold, written by Penelope Skinner (created with Don Mackay), currently runs at the refurbished Studio Seaview through August 3rd.

If you enjoy Krasinski’s work, in Angry Alan he’s humorous and heartfelt, and at the top of his game. Krasinski slyly generates Roger’s emotional breakdown. When we reach the finale, spun out after eighty-five minutes, Roger’s darkening metamorphosis has numbed our emotions.  

With insight and ingenuity, the playwright reveals how cultural influences can harm men as they “look for shelter” from their own inner pain and torment. Rather than get professional, local help, they may seek like-minded others on social media for a quick, feel-good fix with disastrous results.

When we meet Roger in his unremarkable, unadorned home in the midwest (courtesy of dots’ apt scenic design), his confessional tone and good-natured aura solicit our interest. Despite his divorce and his firing from an upper level position at AT&T, his smiling face and energy shine with positivity. Krasinski hones his portrayal skillfully with power. Winningly, he mines Roger’s goodwill with his charming audience interactions. He has us. However, where are we going with him?

As we learn his back story, we note his “good guy” persona. For example, ex-wife Suzanne always receives child support payments on time for their son Joe whom he loves. Additionally, he encourages his girlfriend Courtney and her new friends who are feminists and vegans. Furthermore, he supports Courtney’s taking art classes at the local community college, despite the nude male and female models. Not an “extremist,” he walks the political middle of the road.

Thus, Roger’s frenetic enthusiasm about the online guru he recently discovered and hesitates to discuss with Courtney doesn’t alarm. So, we “hear him out.” Clearly, the guy on the internet that Roger finds simpatico has drawn him with his mesmerizing, candid videos. Sure, we know how addictive videos can be. Don’t we immerse ourselves watching them on our phones?

However, the video creator “Angry Alan,” uses a handle that expresses the feelings of hundreds of his followers. As it turns out Alan pushes a stereotypical, one-sided perspective about men’s oppression by “a gynocracy out of control,” a feminist movement over the edge. Roger ignores the causes of feminism as he presents how Angry Alan uplifts men’s rights. Obviously, because women “dominate the world” (like Beyoncé says), men are in crises. Roger cites various statistics (men are more likely to commit suicide, die in combat, be college drop-outs), to reveal how modern men are “in trouble.”

After Roger confides in girlfriend Courtney and they discuss his new interest, he gains her support, though she doesn’t watch any of the videos. Instead, the affable Roger filters Alan through his vulnerable lens and makes him sound reasonable. In fact, this new direction Roger takes prompts him to send a video to Joe. And for the first time, Joe texts him and they agree to Joe’s visit, a first that thrills Courtney. However, Roger doesn’t tell her he uses his child support money for a pricey gold donor ticket to Angry Alan’s men’s conference.

As a turning point in Roger’s downward spiral, the men’s empowerment conference skyrockets his enthusiasm. Meanwhile, the truth revealed in Gold’s staging and the scenic design indicate Roger’s brokenness and susceptibility to brainwashing. As Roger describes the numbers of men and a few women who attend, Gold represents this with two dummies sitting in chairs and a painted backdrop of indistinguishable figures in the distance. No wonder why Roger dismisses those few he talked to and only has eyes for the internet icon and star of the conference, Alan, whom we never see.

The more urgent his need to calm his inner turmoil and isolation, the less Roger focuses on reality. So when he attempts to cheer up a woman he meets at the conference, who leaves depressed, she expresses truths Roger dismisses. There to report on the economic practices of online personalities, Roger quotes her, ” I’m ‘upset’ cos I just sat in a room all day with a bunch of guys like you spewing hate and laughing at rape jokes.” Then she reveals that Alan doesn’t use the donations he receives for charities. Instead, the money goes in Alan’s personal bank account.

Though she has given Roger the inside truth of Angry Alan’s MO, Roger insults her and walks away. Reinforcing his position, he projects onto her his inner emotional state, “What a bitter woman. Talk about fake news.” This stubbornness thrusts him deeper into the abyss. So, when Joe visits and confides in his father looking for comfort, Roger can’t accept Joe’s revelation because it doesn’t line up with Alan’s world view. The affable good guy disappears and a monster of hate and rage manifests. “Angry Alan” has spawned “Angry Roger.” Unable to self-correct or self-evaluate, Roger destroys his relationship with Joe.

Krasinski makes Roger’s descent and self-annihilation believable with the exception of the last moments of the play. Though Roger has a cathartic moment, Skinner drags us back to the internet and Angry Alan’s followers. If she ended the play with Roger feeling the despair of his own pain and sorrow, the play might have had more thematic grist and allowed the audience to identify with Roger’s humanity. Instead, Skinner leaves him online. Though Roger hasn’t had enough, we have. Despite Gold’s finely paced direction, coherent technical vision and Krasinski’s performance, the conclusion leaves us cold.

Angry Alan runs 1 hour 25 minutes without an intermission at Studio Seaview through August 3. studioseaview.com.