Mon 8 Feb, 2010
Killer Joe – REVIEW
Comments (0) Filed under: REVIEWS OF SHOWS 'Now Playing'Tags: 4 STARS, Killer Joe, Profiles Theatre, Tracy Letts
By Venus Zarris
Killer Joe is a startling example of theater at its roughest, toughest and most brutally absurd. Although written before playwright Tracy Letts was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for Man from Nebraska and Pulitzer Prize winner for August: Osage County, Killer Joe show no signs of being a ‘first try.’ It is a completely and brilliantly realized script that transports you to the darkest recesses of the human condition without an inkling of self-consciousness. It is a frighteningly wild ride into the despondent abyss of volatile people making bad choices in a bleak situation.
The characters resemble the occupants of the Green Room at the Jerry Springer show, except for the fact that these folks wouldn’t be allowed on set. Even Springer has some standards and by the time this story reaches its deadly conclusion, there isn’t much left tell because there aren’t many left to tell it.
Prodigal son Chris returns to the Smith household, that is trailer, in the middle of the night frantic for cash that he owes ‘some guys.’ Considering the fact that his step mom answers the door half-naked and his father follows out in his dingy underpants, it is not hard to imagine how Chris got in this predicament. This is a family on a fast track to someplace that makes nowhere seem like Disneyland. They come up with a plan to murder Chris’s birth mother for the insurance pay-off (healthy choice) and when hit man Killer Joe asks for innocent sister Dottie Smith as a retainer; these poster freaks for white trash dysfunction serve up the simple minded virgin in her finest dollar store dress.
Letts crafts something that is part dark comedy and all desperate nightmare. On the surface his characters seem one-dimensional but the extent of their casual depravation reveals the terrifying depth of human malevolence. Rick Snyder directs this remarkable cast to staggering perfection. At first glance one might think that the casting call was held in the middle of the night at a 24-hour Wal-Mart, but this ensemble delivers something so much more profound than a snapshot of redneck turmoil. They create a walking, talking, fighting, fucking, and “K. Fry C.” chicken-eating glimpse of self-manufactured hell-on-earth.
Kevin Bigley and Howie Johnson are excellent as Chis and Ansel Smith. Bigley’s frantically frightened character is contrasted wonderfully by Johnson’s slow-witted fool. Somer Benson delivers an incredible performance as stepmother Sharla Smith. Many actors wouldn’t be caught dead in what she wears, and doesn’t wear, but she fearlessly immerses herself in this train wreck of a character. The fact that, night after night, Benson subjects herself to the frightening physicality required of this character is astounding. More so, the fact that there is nothing about her terrific performance in the first act that indicates any hesitation about what she must endure in the second act is a testament to her skill and dedication.
Although the hair on the back of your neck stands on end from his first entrance, Darrell W. Cox creates one of the most frightening monsters seen on stage with a subtle restraint that allows for the layers of menace to unfold. Picture perfect is an understatement for Cox’s Killer Joe Cooper. He becomes the character so completely that you can feel the audience’s discomfort with his presence. Cox creates more fear with a silent gaze than is created in any graphic scene from a ‘torture porn’ horror film. But his performance is far more than just physically threatening theatrics; rather it renders the full spectrum of a patiently premeditated predator who is void of conscience or morality.
But the play belongs to Dottie and Claire Wellin stands out as almost unearthly in this beguilingly amazing performance. She is a treasure buried in a bad dream. Dottie knows enough to realize what is expected of her when Joe comes a’callin. Joe’s unflinching stare is almost enough to deflower her. He is polite and charming at first but when she stalls his advances, his accommodating disposition starts to turn. Wellin elicits an astonishing level of empathy that causes us to fear for her as much as she fears for herself. The tension is painfully palpable. Remaining calm, Cox delivers a sweetly diabolical seductive follow through that is nothing shot of spontaneously calculated molestation of innocence.
And this is just act one.
Set designer Sotirios Livaditis creates a dilapidated trailer so real; you lift your feet for fear of roaches. R & D Choreography renders the violence to startling effect. This is a very small black box and the carnage happens in your lap. There is no room for hesitation or error and none can be found.
Profiles Theatre’s production of Killer Joe is an incomparable success that will linger with you long you leave the theater. It represents exigent theater at its most ferocious, most fearless and most certainly its finest. Do not miss this rare and wonderful darkly devious delight!
4 STARS
(“Killer Joe” runs through February 28 at Profiles Theatre, 4147 N. Broadway. 773-549-1815)




















