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So I Killed A Few People Director: Justin McGuinness Bakehouse Theatre, Fri 5 August, Season closed 
Serial killer Archie Nunn (Edward White) is set to die by electrocution
in a few days' time and as part of his last requests he asks to tell
his story before a live audience. A request that's, oddly, approved,
only to prove to be much more revealing and disturbing than any previous
attempts by the police, his lawyers and the courts to make him talk.
"Welcome to my court-approved freak show," he boastfully announces.
"Am I a pathological liar? Or am I lying about being one?" he later
taunts, mischievously. Archie, a former advertising executive, is a likable kind of guy, fixated with '80s sitcoms, detective shows and pop culture. He draws upon advertising slogans and television characters to cheapen the seriousness of his crimes, and to further sicken us with his own fluent brand of jingle-based humour. He is neither remorseful about the eight indiscriminate murders he's been charged with (he even strongly hints at others), nor deluded about his fate and point-blank refuses to enter into any moralistic debate about the right and wrongs of the death penalty. Archie's a complex individual who's overactive and easily bored and his compulsive sense of skewed fun not only manages to keep him amused during the long days spent in his cell (which measures 28X46 lengths of his erect penis), but also deliberately serves to antagonise all around him. 'So I Killed A Few People' is essentially a one-man play, though with the amazing use of a large screen video footage of Nunn's interrogation (Andrew Martin plays the cop). Also quickly projected are images of products, catchphrases and other such icons. Behind the screen is where Nunn, dressed in orange prison overalls, is kept at bay. While within the story this is part of the safety precautions used to separate the dangerous inmate from the audience before him, it also added an ironic televisual impression to the portrayal. White was perfect as the multi-faceted Nunn, remaining confidently focused throughout and managing to fluently switch from a murderous monster to amiable talk show host in a heartbeat. Affecting an American accent and being confined to a limited patch of stage, White was both stand-up comic and unyielding physical performer: his incessant pent-up pacing and spectral disposition was perfect for Archie. This was the first time that Gary Ruderman and David Summers' monologue has been performed in Australia, and judging by the success of the Bakehouse Theatre Company's production it surely won't be the last.  |
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