Photo by Troy Freund
Murderers Cast - Boulevard Theatre
The leads of 'Murderers' left to right: Caitlin Kujawski, Mohammad N. ElBsat and Joan End
Does a play called Murderers sound grim? But since it’s written by Jeffrey Hatcher, you can be assured that it will be a comedy, a mordantly funny comedy.
Photo by Troy Freund
Murderers Rehearsal - Boulevard Theatre
Mohammad N. ElBsat (left), Joan End (center) and Caitlin Kujawski (right) rehears 'Murderers' with Boulevard Theatre
Murderers will be the finale of Boulevard Theatre’s 39th season, not a Milwaukee premiere (Next Act produced it 20 years ago) but a welcome break from the Disneyfied monotony of recent theater. Murderers unfolds at a Florida senior center, the Riddle Key Retirement Home, and is composed of three monologues, each one spoken by someone involved in a murder.
The cast is composed of Mohammad N. ElBsat as the Affable Adulterer, Joan End as the Homicidal Housefrau and Caitlin Kujawski as the Sensible Sociopath. Esteemed Milwaukee actor David Flores has been employed as “text consultant” and George Thomas as production assistant.
The production will be naked and unadorned. Boulevard’s artistic director, Mark Bucher, calls his production a “concert staging.” He explains, “It’s the full play but without costumes, a set or technical support,” not a “reading” because the actors will have memorized the text. As for Flores’ role, he has coached the cast on alliteration and on drawing out the humor. Not unlike standup comedy, timing is everything when delivering some of Hatcher’s lines.
Bucher describes the play as “tales of three hapless murderers.” The Affable Adulterer is enmeshed in an increasingly convoluted insurance fraud that climaxes in killing a blackmailer. The Homicidal Housefrau contemplates suicide after receiving bad news from her doctor and wants to frame her death as homicide at the hands of her husband and his mistress. The Sensible Sociopath works at Riddle Key Retirement Home and wants to “weed out” the most disagreeable residents.
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“It’s funny and ironic, it’s about justice and society,” Bucher says, praising Hatcher’s writing as well as his sensibility. “The Boulevard’s mission is to focus on language. Sometimes costumes and sets can enhance the words but sometimes they can get in the way—or become a crutch.”
No crutches will be on hand for the cast of Murderers. It will be just them—and the words they speak.
Boulevard Theatre will stage Murderers on June 12, June 14-15, June 17 and June 19 at the reception hall of Plymouth Church (2717 E. Hampshire St.) with a pay what you can admission policy. An entrance gift of $20 per guest is suggested. For more information, visit milwaukeeboulevardtheatre.com.
