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Never The Sinner Independent Theatre Company Director: Rob Croser Odeon Theatre Season Closed  Although
this is the third time since 1992 Independent Theatre Company has
presented American John Logan's 'Never The Sinner', I had never seen
it before. Their Australian premiere production fourteen years ago
was so popular that the company was invited to reprise the show in
The Space - and Logan worked with director Rob Croser on a new script
which became the current published version. Logan wrote the original
three hour extravaganza early in his career in 1983 in Chicago - the
location of the actual thrill-kill that the text is based on. He spent
another ten years working on the script after the show's West End
premiere, and was still tinkering with it during his visit to Adelaide
for this production. Perhaps it should be called, 'Never Is Finished.'This production follows Brink's 2003 workshop session on the 'The Rope Project' which dealt with Adelaide's sensationalised murders, and I consequently fought against this play. Although Logan notes the spine of 'Never The Sinner' is the love story between the delinquent Mssrs Leopold and Loeb, he constantly pulls focus with the diverse themes of previous versions - the criminals' fascination with power, the issue of capital punishment, the frenzy of the press and Chicago's morbid fascination with the murder, and the interruption of the narrative with a barrage of facts and anecdotes that the writer couldn't weave into the dialogue. With respect to the pair's infatuation with the philosophy of Nietzsche, there must have been a bit of Clark Kent in Leopold's superman when they were stuffing the body into a sewer because he left his incriminating glasses behind. The complex love story was mitigated by the revelation of a contract of sex for chauffeur services during the subject killing, and for various other insane endeavours the boys had in the pipeline to prove their pointless point. While the introverted Loeb mumbles on about birds, the great Clarence Darrow, who passionately advocated against the death penalty to raise our society above retribution - his words provide the title of the play - is nearly a silent character except for a final monologue. A most interesting story in the historical event is Darrow's role in how these guys escaped the hangman. Instead, the main interest of the play is the investigation of the warped minds of the murderers and their motive, but late in the play Leopold confesses he doesn't even know why he did it, or it wasn't worth it, or whatever... My issue is that after the 'Rope Project' experience, I couldn't give a stuff about these two assholes - that may partly be because the play is based on a true story and I refer to the actual Leopold and Loeb and not the characters of a play. I suppose you could say I found the play provocative. Rod Roach's set juxtaposed the sort of neo-classical motif that you would expect in a supreme court with the art deco of the times - they were an odd couple like Leopold and Loeb. Croser and lighting designer Laraine Wheeler stuck to black and white - to signify the only colours available to newspapers in the 20s - except for some scarlet for murder. Nathan O'Keefe as Loeb provided much needed energy and action in the production - his adrenalin rush during the murder was superb. Dai Davison as Loeb's reluctant partner in crime gave such an underdeveloped performance that O'Keefe often looked on his own. The chemistry between them was largely missing - the soft-handed indications of homosexuality didn't ring true and while they provided an insight into their relationship, they looked very mannered. David Roach and Allen Munn were utterly authentic as the opposing lawyers but Munn had additional gravitas playing the famous persona. The reporters were mainly a nuisance except in the sincere interview scenes. Rushed lines and unusual accents hampered understanding - Davison's opening monologue was garbled. As always, Croser provided copious background material indicative of his thorough research, and in this case, his collaboration with the writer. This version of 'Never The Sinner' had all the high production standards that hallmark an Independent production but it gave me little insight as to the cause for the adulation this play received fourteen years ago. Perhaps it's me and my baggage; perhaps it's been superceded by Tarantino... the play is a great way to get acquainted with the basic story of the Franks murder, but it overindulges the young men's folly. |
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