Blood, shock, horror as the middle classes get skewered

Simon London plays Rudi, an endearing pizza delivery boy in David Gieselmann's play.

The stark white set is the first clue that SiLo Theatre's Mr Kolpert is going to make good on its R18 rating.

After all, what better colour than white to show up the ensuing pizza, vomit and blood stains?

Mr Kolpert is a most unusual theatre beast - a black comedy with shocking violence. Often, physical violence in theatre is muted because the action is stylised or it happens offstage but in Mr Kolpert it is centre-stage, graphic and blood-spittingly real.

Like many playwrights, David Gieselmann uses our capacity for murder as a device to investigate wider issues of the human condition and society's mores. In Mr Kolpert he successfully skewers the modern middle classes, providing plenty of genuine laughs. But combined with the violent action it makes for an unsettling mix.

The action takes place in that most middle class of settings, the dinner party. Urban liberals Ralf and Sarah have invited Sarah's more conservative colleagues, Edith and Bastian, for a meal. They have nothing in common and the uneasy situation is made worse by Ralf's claim there is a dead body in the room.

Director Shane Bosher seems to be channelling Quentin Tarantino in his desire to keep the audience off balance. The hyper-violence has an almost slapstick quality and some of the most violent scenes are scored with cheesy Celine Dion songs and television theme tunes.

The performances are uneven. Some of the actors are understated and don't seem to have cracked their characters, while others give a memorable, vivid portrayal of fully realised characters.

The standouts are Jackie Van Beek, who is mesmerising in her portrayal of the mousy Edith, and Simon London, endearing as pizza delivery boy Rudi.

The audience's reactions to Mr Kolpert are almost as interesting as the show itself.

Understandably, there were disgusted groans for a vomiting scene, and a brutal wife battery was met with silence.

But the murder of an innocent bystander was greeted with almost hysterical laughter. What a strange bunch we are. But then, perhaps that is the point of this play.

Review

What: Mr Kolpert

Where: Silo Theatre

When: to December 18

Reviewer: Shannon Huse