Earlier this week I took a trip up to Fairfield University to see John Malkovich perform a theater piece that he's been touring around the world the last year or so.
John Malkovich, Two Sopranos, and a 30 piece Baroque orchestra.
It's called The Infernal Comedy;Confessions of a serial killer, and it's based on a true story of an Austrian Serial Killer, who had been imprisoned for murder and then 15 years later made a convincing case that he had been rehabilitated, redeemed.
After he was released he became a novelist and a playwright and theater director and a journalist, all quite successfully. He was charming. He was a celebrity.
As a journalist he wrote a series of articles about a killer who was targeting prostitutes in Vienna. He came to Los Angeles and wrote an article about the sex trade in California.
Six prostitutes were killed in Vienna and three sex workers were killed in Los Angeles.
............... can you guess who committed these crimes?
correct. (I won't insult you by confirming your suspicion )
The Orchestra enters and tunes up and then plays a bit of an overture, the singers are introduced and then Jack Unterweger (Malkovich) enters and welcomes us. He is going to give a reading of his new book, his memoir. He is charming and seductive and funny as hell. There is also a bit of tension between him and the other people on stage, but no matter, he has work to do.
I saw a clip of this on youtube (the previous post) and knew that I would have to keep an eye out for it. I love theater that defies a category- It's not a one man show, it's not a musical, It's funny but hardly a comedy. In a recent interview with Charlie Rose, Malkovich refers to it as an opera.
There is always that great unexpected feline grace and silkiness in the way he moves- There is a wonderful sensuality in the way he wears clothes, you really get the feeling that he chooses his outfits not just for the way they look but more importantly for the way they feel.
About halfway thru the show it came to me- he reminded me of the famous photo of Truman Capote on the cover of his book "Other Voices, Other Rooms" (give that a google)
He has a great awareness about the way he moves-much is made during the show about how he walks off stage- sometimes he slithers ,other times he all but stomps off. At one point he wanders into the orchestra and lays down among the cellos.
At the end of the evening there are no great insights into the criminal mind, no grand conclusions to be drawn, but it was a fun way to spend an evening
Sometimes I enjoy walking away from a show wondering "what was that?"
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