Killer Joe - Review

Trafalgar Studios, London


***


Written by Tracy Letts
Directed by Simon Evans

Orlando Bloom

Arguably, the revival of a 25 year-old script is done for one of two reasons; either its excellent writing simply entertains, or it is pertinent to today’s societal trends. With Killer Joe, the rationale is unclear. Billed as a blackly comic thriller, it makes for deeply uncomfortable viewing at times, before switching into an almost farce that can surely not be the intended effect.

The titular Joe Cooper (Orlando Bloom) is a detective by day and contract killer by night. Chris Smith (Adam Gillen) and his father Ansel (Steffan Rhodri) hatch a scheme to hire Joe to shoot Adele (Chris’ mother and Ansel’s ex-wife) and then cash in on her life insurance. Texan to his core and complete with cowboy hat, Joe wreaks havoc within the Smith family before even stepping inside their home.

Although it is Joe who sets the course for the tale, the story’s real focus is Chris’ sister Dottie (Sophie Cookson), an innocent twenty year old taken by the hitman as a retainer pending the life insurance payout. Ownership, agency and inequality are the dominant themes in the play, with the three intersecting most powerfully in the pawn-like Dottie. Cookson is found to be consistently captivating as she captures a young woman transitioning into adulthood.

Bloom unquestionably brings star power to the stage but it appears to takes him some time to get comfortable as Joe. During the second half however he comes more into his own, unleashing the dreadful power that has been quietly simmering below the surface. Elsewhere, Rhodri quietly shines, oscillating seamlessly between disinterest, flippancy and pain.

The other star of the show is its formidable creative trinity as sound, lighting and set designers conjoin to great effect. As a trailer park is neatly transposed on to the stage, the focal point of Grace Smart’s spectacular set is the Smith family home with an impressive depth and attention to detail that suggests authenticity throughout. Edward Lewis’ score and sound design complements the other elements of this production, despite its very occasional tendency to veer towards melodrama. Richard Howell’s lighting design is flashy (often quite literally) and precise.

Yet for all of this production's technical excellence Tracy Letts’ message remains unclear, with the onstage abuse of power proving to be as discomforting as it sounds. Even more jarring is the audience's laughter at such abuse. As today's headlines focus on morality and exploitation, it is hard to reconcile a truly menacing threat (even in dramatic fiction) being viewed as humour - and it is equally difficult to couch Killer Joe as either entertainment or art.

Runs until 18th August

Reviewed by Bhakti Gajjar

Photo credit: Marc Brenner

Bug - Review

Found 111, London


*****

Written by Tracy Letts
Directed by Simon Evans

James Norton and Kate Fleetwood

Tracy Letts’ Bug at the Found111 space is a pressure cooker of paranoid chaos, as fascinating as it is terrifying. It draws a thin line between reality and neurosis, trapping the audience in a claustrophobic motel room, which represents both a cosy haven and a nausea inducing prison. The nature of fear, reality and human companionship are all held literally under the microscope in a breathlessly disquieting evening. 

We find Kate Fleetwood’s damaged Agnes, perched in the doorframe of her room, a squalid sordid little shrine to loneliness (expertly dressed by designer Ben Stones). After her friend R.C (Daisy Lewis) introduces Agnes to Peter (James Norton), she becomes swept up in a world of paranoia, infestation and real danger, as she tries to come to terms with the loss of her son and her need for human connection. 

It’s a powerful piece of writing, driven with tight pacing. Letts tenderly leads us along the path of intrigue, building the suspense delicately until the pot boils over in the second act and Peter’s ravaged ‘hive’ mind is unleashed. Characters are at once broken and totally complete in their convictions, never truly allowing us to be certain of their intentions or indeed their validity. We feel Peter’s fears and can empathise with his concerns about unseen foes. “We’re never truly safe”, he says, wounded eyes etched with sincerity. It’s a statement that an audience of 2016, assaulted daily with terror attacks and body counts, can all too easily identify with. 

Letts’ characters are fantastically well drawn, but equally well skilled are the performances that give them life. Kate Fleetwood’s Agnes is a desperately tragic figure, in need of rescue but latching on to the wrong life raft. Fleetwood taps into the isolation and fragile terror that haunt Agnes and the guilt she feels having lost her son. Her strangled cries towards the end of the play, as she unravels the conspiracies of Peter’s mind betray a woman drowning in maternal guilt. 

Norton is sweetly sympathetic as Peter, expertly flitting between deluded kook and perceptive fundamentalist. He brings a child-like innocence to the role, stripping him of his more obvious physical sexual appeal and legitimising Agnes’ obsession with protecting him as the play unfolds. 

There’s also strong work from the supporting cast, particularly Alec Newman as Agnes’s abusive ex-husband. There is a real menace to his limited stage time, as he pulses with the constant possibility of violence. 

Director Simon Evans understands the environment of Found111 and willingly embraces the claustrophobia of the space. Brutally minimal staging draws the audience into the action, placing us in the motel room, fidgeting in our seats, wondering if the titular bugs are crawling around our feet. Lighting Designer Richard Howell and Sound Designer Edward Lewis combine to brilliant effect to create the disconnect between the calm banality of the outside world and the fevered panic of the Agnes and Peter’s existence. Lewis’ mechanical soundscapes feature noises that are reassuringly familiar: a car passing, an AC unit kicking in. However, in their incessant repetition throughout the piece they take on the menace and foreboding that inform Peter’s technophobia. 

Evans mentions in his programme notes that he ‘all-but threw’ Bug at Emily Dobbs when discussing his next play at Found111 and it’s not hard to understand his enthusiasm to see it staged. It’s a thrilling piece with universal themes that strike relevant chords for a modern audience and here is performed with real panache by a top-notch cast. You’d be as foolish as a fruit fly to miss it.

Runs until 7th May

Reviewed by: Will Clarkson

Photo credit: Simon Annand