The Painter
The Painter
Written by Roger Floyd
Directed by Paul Castaneda
Starring Roger Floyd
Greater Orlando Actors Theatre, Winter Park FL</strong>
This is a tough show, so let’s approach it systematically. First, what do we like? In the mythology of Jack the Ripper, very little is certain and speculation rules the roost. There are seven well accepted suspects, no fewer than five “canonical” victims, and a dozen plus possible perps. Writer Floyd picks Walter Sickert (Floyd) as his protagonist, this man was a painter, possibly impotent, and if nothing else a dramatic figure with a menacing beard and way with words. Along with him on stage we meet two of Jack’s victims, Catherine Eddows (Leesa Castaneda) and Anne Chapman (Krystal Gillette). Both are cloying and erotic, desperate and tatty, and as they take turns expounding and bleeding they find a way to taunt their murderer even in their deaths. Positives: a wildly romantic killer, a possible motive, and supporting actresses who mix fear and sexuality yet never actively resent Sickert for their demise. A solid basis, to be sure.
Now to the challenges. This is an extremely intense show, and it never gives the audience a break. As we descend into what might be Sickert’s madness, there are no glimpses of alternatives: this man is out to kill what he hates, and he relishes the task. But why now? What was his trigger? While searching for that, there are few milestones for the audience to measure the progress of the play, at some points as the cast was rubbing paint on each other I began to wonder “How will this wrap up? WILL this rap up? Is anything going to change in Mr. Sickert’s mind?” I never detected any change, he set out to murder, he murdered, and would have continued to murder had the time allowed. Thus, this show shocks, it shocks well, but leaves you with little but shock on the way out. More a tableaux than a drama, all the seasonal elements are there but I never find sympathy for the people. Bad things happened to amoral people, and that’s that.
For more information on Greater Orlando Actor’s Theatre, please visit http://http://www.goatgroup.com/
There are many Jack the Ripper sites on the web; this is a good starting point: http://www.jack-the-ripper.org/</em>
