Reviewed by James Karas
When you see True Crime as the
title of a play, you probably expect a whodunnit production with the telling of
a story based on, as the title states, true crime. Crow’s Theatre presents the
Castleton Massive Production of True Crime and one
expects what I just wrote.
A glance at the cast list informs you that Torquil Campbell
and Chris Abraham are the Co-Creators in collaboration with Julian Brown who is
also listed as Composer and Musician.
Author, please! There is no writer credited but
creators can be writers as well, I suppose, but can they tell us about the
basis for the creation?
What you get in True Crime is a one-actor performance by Campbell with some musical accompaniment by Julian Brown. Let me heap praise on Campbell for his bravura solo performance that lasts for more than ninety minutes. He sings several songs but they are simply breaks in the arduous task of telling a complex and circuitous story and always keeping the audience with him. Variations in tone, volume, startling quips and use of the stage are Campbell’s trademark ways of keeping an audience’s unfailing attention. He does it superbly.
He digresses frequently with information about
himself. His father was the famous Douglas Campbell of Stratford Festival and Canadian
theatre renown in general. He mentions
his wife who cannot understand his obsession with the criminal that he talks
about and he makes references to local theatre. In other words, he sneaks stuff
into the narrative.
True Crime does indeed tell the story of a notorious criminal
by the name of Christian Gerhartsrtsreiter. He was a
master impostor using numerous aliases such as Christopher Chichester, Charles
Smith and Clark Rockefeller. Yes, the Rockefellers. He has a long
criminal record including first degree murder and he is in a penitentiary now
and may well end his life behind bars.
The story of Gerhartsrtsreiter’s criminal life can
fill volumes but Campbell and Abraham are not interested in a lineal telling of
his life. Campbell tells us that he became obsessed with Gerhartsrtsreiter life
and composed songs about him and wanted to or started writing a play about him
and much of the monologue is about Campbell’s attempts to communicate with him
including two trips to the penitentiary where the criminal resides. The play is
as much about Campbell pursuing and meeting
the Criminal as it is about Gerhartsrtsreiter. Maybe.
Campbell is a man of many talents including that of
a musician, a composer, a singer and a writer. He wanted to meet Gerhartsrtsreiter
artist to artist. In fact, Gerhartsrtsreiter told him that the two became partners in whatever Campbell
composed. That sounds interesting if it were true. Is it?
Is there anything true about what Campbell tells us?
I don’t know and Campbell makes sure that I and presumably the audience do not
know. There is no danger of me breaking the
rules of a whodunnit and disclosing the culprit. I really have no idea how much
of what Campbell tells us is about his search for and relationship with Gerhartsrtsreiter
is totally fictitious. The latter’s criminal life is well documented of course.
Most of the details of the production, at times
complex, frequently entertaining, will fade quickly but Campbell’s bravura
performance will stay with me.
And when it comes to whodunit, this is a resounding
success. You leave the theatre clueless.
______________________
vERY nICE
ReplyDelete