[In case you were wondering, we’re now at the beginning of July with my reviews. ;)]

The Infernal Comedy is a play written by Michael Sturminger [German] about Jack Unterweger, famous serial killer and society guy. It stars John Malkovich.

Plot:
Jack Unterweger (John Malkovich) is in hell, where he does a reading of his autobiography to an eclectic audience (us). With him, there are two singers (Laura Aikin and Aleksandra Zamojska) who play the various women in his life, while performing – with an orchestra – various arias from different operas.
[You can read the entire script at the homepage I linked to above.]

It’s an awesome play, capturing the fascination Unterweger had on Vienna’s high society (especially the women) as much as the gruesome murders he committed. Despite the dire topic, it has some really good laughs and the music is very well chosen.

I have to admit that I only wanted to see this play because of John Malkovich. I mean, how often do you get the chance to see Malkovich live on stage, especially in Vienna? And he was awesome. He owned that role, the Austrian accent and the flamboyant character. He delivered his lines with a great, dry humour and with a lot of passion.

But the play itself is also very good, though a lot, of course, hinges on its only actor. The text flows, it touches on all the interesting stuff and as I said before, it manages to be funny.

The music is interesting. There’s Gluck, there’s Vivaldi, there’s Mozart und Beethoven. Each of the arias foccusses on passion, jealousy, betrayal, love and fits in the broader context. Both of the singers were amazing.

I’d definitely recommend it.