Alchemist Theatre Explores Haunting ‘Murder Castle’

There’s no denying the viciousness in the story of H.H. Holmes, who confessed to 27 murders in Chicago between 1888 and 1894. Aaron Kopec, author of the Alchemist Theatre’s stage drama about Holmes, has found captivating levels of darkness beyond the surface of this hauntingly prolific serial killer. Murder Castle: The Chronicle of H.H. Holmes suffers a bit from an excessively lengthy script, but it possesses a depth and complexity common to only the best stories of the horror genre.

Nate Press plays Holmes as something of a twisted, nightmarish mutation of a Horatio Alger figure. In Murder Castle, Holmes is seen as a murderer, a salesman and a white-collar criminal who engaged in insurance fraud. As the killer, Press ranges from a calm, professional demeanor to brutal aggression. A scene between Holmes and one of his bound victims is an eerie, intellectual journey into the nature of authority and control. The disturbing interaction between Holmes and victim is paralleled by a scene involving Holmes and his first wife and baby. Played by Liz Whitford, Holmes’ wife tells the baby that she knows what Holmes has been doing, chillingly justifying her silence on the matter.

More than straight-ahead horror, Murder Castleis an allegory about the birth of the 20th century in shadows trodden by an expanding American middle class. In the script, Kopec seems critical of both the man who killed dozens of innocents and a society that might have been able to do something about it. Grace DeWolff, as the bright daughter of Holmes’ business associate, cleverly plays a symbol of the children of the 20th century. She sees the potential of the new age, but also perilously sees Holmes as a mentor.

Alchemist Theatre’s Murder Castle: The Chronicle of H.H. Holmes runs through Nov. 6.