Confessions of a Serial Killer Stars John Malkovich
The Infernal Comedy at ArtsEmerson
By: Mark Favermann - Sep 29, 2011
The Infernal Comedy: Confessions of a Serial Killer
The United States Premiere
Written and Directed by Michael Sturminger
Starring John Malkovich
Sophie Klußmann, Soprano
Claire Meghnagi, Soprano
Martin Haselböck, Orchestra Conductor
ArtsEmerson: The World On Stage
Cutler Majestic Theatre
219 Tremont Street, in Boston’s Theatre District
September 29 & 30, 2011 at 8 p.m.
Box office (617) 824-8400
To help inaugerate the second season of international theatre programming by ArtsEmerson: The World On Stage presented the U.S. premiere of The Infernal Comedy: Confessions of a Serial Killer. The oddly crafted show stars the strangely theatrical craftsman John Malkovich. Performances took place only on Sept. 29 & 30, 2011 at the Cutler Majestic Theatre in Boston’s Theatre District. Not surprisingly, each of the shows were both sold out quickly.
Why? Two words: John Malkovich. He is iconic actor personified. Trained in theatre, he is a major movie star who always seems to be making another film, television movie or acting in a play. He has both cult and mainstream followings. Well-deserved.
Whatever Malkovich's role, there is a stunning twist to his characterization or extra touch of questionable human toxicity. One of the world's most notable actors, Malkovich thrives in menacing, dangerous roles that reflect the dark side of humanity while creepily delighting us. There is always a deeper meaning to his words, movements and gestures. Malkovich is clearly like no other great actor.
Confessions is a cross between chilling crime drama interspersed with a Baroque opera (actually opera seria) and a live orchestra of strings and woodwinds. The Infernal Comedy written ands directed by Michael Sturminger is based on the true life story of imprisoned/pardoned/prisoned again Austrian serial killer Jack Unterweger (John Malkovich).
Unterweger, who was sentenced to life in prison in 1976 for murdering a young girl, after 15 years of incarceration became a literary celebrity with the publication of his prison-written autobiography, Purgatory. His new career allowed him to be a noted lecturer and television and radio interviewee as well as media spokesman about crime.
Considered a model of rehabilitation, he was paroled in 1990—only to go on to murder at least 11 more women on two continents. Mysteriously, Jack is back from the grave for an autobiographical book tour. Dressed like Fredo in The Godfather, this utterly magnetic and notorious womanizer seems to literally ooze disconcerting charm and dark humor as he recounts his sordid and shocking history of violence, banal evil and stealth.
Each oral chapter concludes with an aria—eight in all—from Gluck, Mozart, Haydn, Vivaldi and others, sung by two attractive, talented young sopranos. Both of these women tempt Unterweger’s love/hate of women manifested in his bloodlust and sexually perverse desires. Jack's evil story is told through monologues and are illustrated by and juxtaposed with the beautifully performed music.
All aspects of the narrative embodying the emotions that they explore--joy, hatred, love, grief, and desire, are expressed sometimes too graphically but often with twisted humor and reinforced by the beautifully performed music. Pop culture is humorously integrated into the storyline with references to the Governator's Austrian accent, PCs vs Macs (My name is Jack Unterweger, and I am a PC!), the lack of organization of the production, his idiot editor, and parking availability in Los Angeles. However, this is about a serial killer. Eerily, the audience members are like moths sometimes too attracted to Jack's burning devilish flame.
Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra Los Angeles performs under their conductor Martin Haselböck. Haselböck was the music director of the production as well. He also is a sometimes aghast and often frustrated character in the play.
The two sopranos’ (Sophie Klußmann and Claire Meghnagi) beautiful voices provide an inspired counterpoint. They provide a living soundtrack to and a deliciously ironic commentary on Unterweger’s disturbingly evil confessions. The two women elegantly represent and act as Jack Unterweger’s mother, lovers and prostitutes--both alive and dead.
Unterweger was supposedly the son of a young teenager and an American service man after WWII. The dark psychological questions of Jack's mother's lack of love for him, his abusive grandfather, and his perception of women as whores to be slaughtered are textbook psychological elements that Jack Unterweger refutes. He states that nothing he has written is the truth. What is? But, he does not deny the brutal murders.
John Malkovich is magnetic. His attraction is an ability to cloak himself in the creepiness of a character while charming, embracing, and even somehow hypnotizing us to see an attractiveness to sinister aspects of the person he is portraying. He gets to the guts of the villian while making him personable and affable. He does this superbly with the evil Jack Unterweger. The creep content is fascinatingly and brilliantly explored by Malkovich's talent and skill.
This production was clever, witty and thoughtfully crafted. However, The Infernal Comedy: Confessions of a Serial Killer is something of a new form of theatrical hybrid the drama/musicale, a concert theatrical. Writer/director Michael Sturminger pushes boundaries sometimes appealingly awkwardly and at other times beautifully. The singers and conductor are more than musicians. They are actors in the drama, players in the narrrative.
At times oddly and scary comic, this sometimes brutal and violent portrayal is a innovative approach to delving into the twisted mind of a truly awful human being. Would we expect anything less from John Malkovich? Serial killer and author Jack Unterweger was not like every man. John Malkovich is not like any other actor. Actor and character are a creepy virtually seamless fit.
The Infernal Comedy: Confessions of a Serial Killer with John Malkovich is already one of the theatrical events of the season.