With its next offering, Off and Off-Off-Broadway's abode theatre company will go Down the Drain. The Stanton Wood play, based on the Susan Smith murder case, will be directed by Paul Zablocki, and presented at the Ohio Theatre, March 22-April 15.

The title of Wood's dark comedy refers to the fate of Smith's two young children. A few years ago, the Southern mother made headlines when she claimed that her two offspring were kidnapped in her own car by an African-American man. When the car was later dragged from a nearby lake, with the kids drowned inside, it was revealed that Smith herself had killed them. The subsequent police investigation and trial became tabloid fodder for months.

Amazingly, Wood has extracted a "darkly comic play" from this material. Drain was developed over two months from a series of improvisations created by Wood, Zoblocki and five actors.

The cast will feature Molly Renfroe (The Handless Maiden), Arthur Aulisi, Tami Dixon, Guiesseppe Jones, Janice O'Rourke, Nick Phelps and Jack Shaffer.

Previous abode shows include Notions in Motion, Poona the Fuckdog and Duet!, which transferred to a brief Off-Broadway commercial run. Tickets are $12. The Ohio Theatre is located at 66 Wooster Street in Soho. For more information, call (212) 532-8887.

--By Robert Simonson