Killer Joe
Killer Joe
By Tracy Letts
Directed by Frank Hilgenberg
Starring Daniel Cooksley and Frank Casado
Theatre Downtown, Orlando FL</strong>
If you can imagine “Arsenic and Old Lace” with more bullets and more nudity, you might get the theme of this brutally black comedy. Chris (Casado) in in hock to his dealer for 2 ounces of blow his momma used up, and the bad guys are after him. He needs $6000 to save his musty hide, and his daddy Ansel (Jason Skinner) hasn’t ever seen that much money in his entire life. But Ansel’s ex has a life insurance policy, and that might be an answer. They believe the policy pays to Chris’s virginal sister Dottie (Ashley Wilson), so they make a deal with local assassin Joe Cooper (Cooksley). Being short on cash is a slight problem, but he graciously takes Dottie as a retainer. Soon blood and body parts fly and its redneck party time. And along the way, there’s plenty of language, inappropriate for all-ages situations, and even the Full Frontal nudity we’ve been warned about.
With Theatre Downtown’s lease on their venerable old packing house of a home expiring, it’s time for one big blow out production that pushes taste and morality to the limits. Cooksley is creepy intense as the good cop and bad cop rolled into one. Casado and Skinner form a real life Bevis and Butthead pairing, they know what they want but have very poor risk / reward judgment skills. Sure, they have brains but that’s not the organ they rely on for most judgment calls. Ansel’s second wife Sharla (Vera Varlamov) is hot and bothersome, and when Cooksley has his way with her, well, you’ll never look at fried chicken the same way ever again. And then there’s little Dottie; she’s not exactly simple but Ms. Wilson portrays her as a wise and sincere commentator on everything she’s not supposed to see. In the big blow-‘em-up ending, she may be the only cool head on stage.
It’s sexy, it’s outrageous, and it’s one of the most riveting shows to cross this stage. True, Theatre Downtown’s final show will be that chestnut “Christmas Carol,” but by all means see this show: it’s the sort of work Frank Hilgenberg does best when all the stops are removed. But be warned, this is material you won’t find on HBO.
Theatre Downtown will be relocating to a new location after its next production. There will be a benefit event for the move November 15th. For more information on the benefit and to keep up with Theatre Downtown’s move, please visit http://www.theatredowntown.net
