Show: Toronto Fringe Festival 2009 – “Killing Kevin Spacey”

Written by: Elan Wolf Farbiarz & Cory Terry

Cast: Elan Wolf Farbiarz & Joshua Levi

Theatre: Royal St. George Auditorium

Charlie is stuck in a routine he knows too well and doesn’t like: the relationship lacking passion, the mundane talks in the elevator, the 9 to 5 job that resembles Office Space, and so on. Charlie does have one distraction though: Netflix. When he arrives home and gets his movie fix, he receives Glengarry Glen Ross, American Beauty, and The Usual Suspects (all starring Kevin Spacey). As he watches (and as we in the audience hear over speakers), he sees that what was meant to be an escape from real life suddenly become a harsh reality check. Charlie is living life as the loser-aspect characters of Kevin Spacey’s career. We hear clips of Spacey as Williamson get screamed at in Glengarry Glen Ross. And that’s where Charlie makes his decision. He can’t continue living like Spacey’s characters. He’s got to remodel his life. And who better to emulate than the man doing the screaming at Spacey? Charlie decides he’s going to kill Kevin Spacey within himself, and be resurrected as none other than Al Pacino.

Elan Wolf Fairbiarz co-writes and costars as Charlie alongside Joshua Levi, who acts out every other character that Charlie comes across throughout his day-to-day life. The two-man show works well. Fairbiarz’s ‘everyman’ persona is relatable. He is simple, honest, cynical, and watches a lot of movies. Levi has the tough job of transforming into various characters within a matter of seconds but he’s a strong enough performer that he makes it believable enough (with just the right amount of silly) to drive the story forward.

The show itself is fairly basic, in that there’s no lavish costume changes, no major set pieces, and it relies almost entirely on the two actors to create the world. In this regard, it definitely works. Within the fringe world, you don’t need to go all out and attempt massive stage creations. The audience is willing to suspend disbelief and Killing Kevin Spacey trusts the audience enough to do just that.

The play is fun, though not overtly life-changing. It’s very reminiscent of the aforementioned worker-rebellion staple film Office Space (as Charlie even mentions within the play), and as a result, you get a sense that you’ve seen it all, and know what happens. If you’re a big movie fan, especially of Spacey and Pacino, you’ll love the clips, and you’ll love the references made to their work throughout (I adore both actors and found myself constantly looking forward to the next reference/soundbite). There’s nothing groundbreaking within the show, but it’s a quick, enjoyable 45 minutes of theatre.

Written by :

Gabor Pertic

 

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written by Kindah Mardam Bey, July 17, 2009

Hmmm....this sounds like a great idea that didn't quite take the twisted turns that Being John Malkovich did. Perhaps this play still has a lot of potential though!

Funny that both Spacey and Pacino have played killers though...

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