Killer Joe
Brink Productions @ Odeon Theatre
4:00pm, Sat 2 Mar 2002
Score: 7
Short Review: Trashy
After the epic co-production (with The Wrestling School) of The Ecstatic Bible in the 2000 Festival, Brink Productions return to their Fringe roots with their second season of “Killer Joe”.
Working within the confines of an exploded trailer park home, the plot is a sick little number involving the Smiths, a white trash family, contract killing, a lot of angst, and a few plot twists along the way. Lizzy Falkland (exceptional in The Ecstatic Bible) was the perfect picture of poor southern America, and Michaela Cantwell was wonderful as Dottie, Killer Joe’s “retainer”. Unfortunately, Killer Joe himself (a detective and part-time assassin) was less convincingly played by Rory Walker.
The sound and lighting of the performance was exceptional – they set the mood perfectly. The direction, especially the blocking of the fight scenes, was really confused – these scenes devolved into a mess of yelling and obvious stage fighting (which would make pro wrestlers blush!).
Apart from the afore-mentioned directorial issues, this was pretty competent entertainment. I did love the program, however – all the usual production info, plus a wonderful collection of poor white trash factoids and historical information. So, if you’re down the Parade, you could do a lot worse than catching this show.