Killer Joe - Trafalgar Studio 1

Blimey. Is Orlando getting back on that canoe again? 😍

Is Orlando Bloom one of the few celebs who hasn’t taken out a restraining order against you?!

Has anyone been yet? Hard to believe it has been 23 years since this same play ran at the Vaudeville .....

Even if he doesn't get naked, nicd to see he is at least in a white vest for some of the show!

I've heard the stage door is very busy. I waked past the other day at like 6 and there was around 30 people there between shows, but have seen photos after the show where its packed.

I will riot.

There will be several at various points during the show. If Orlando keeps the vest on.

First things first. For the Orlando Bloom fans, yes, he does - you have to wait for the second act but the moment is so cleverly staged by director Simon Evans that the effect is quite startling and he carries it off with appropriate swagger.

The two ladies - Neve McIntosh (Sharla) and Sophie Cookson (Dottie)- are also required to lose their clothes. If you've seen the film you'll know when and how. In fact, if you've seen the film you'll know pretty much everything that's going to happen. It turns out to have been a very faithful adaptation.

Still, familiar or not, Tracy Letts's play seen live and up close - I was in row AA, practically in the set - has the power to shock and awe and it has been well staged and generally well played here. Bloom (Joe) starts slowly but soon begins to fill out the role and by the chaotic finale he is fully in control of things. He has the size - I never realized what a big guy he is - and charisma for the character and if he slightly underplays the menace he makes an effective case for doing so. Ms Cookson is also excellent as the child/woman daughter and her scenes with Bloom have real truth and power. Ms McIntosh too is fine. She fully commits (and then some) to her second act humiliation scene - the graphic KFC drumstick moment - which is played to shattering effect.

Alas, it's not all good news. Adam Gillen, in the pivotal role of Chris, the instigator and linchpin of the plot, is so far over the top he seems like he's dropped in from another planet. If you thought he was a tad too big as Mozart in the NT's Amadeus, you ain't seen nothin' yet. Chris is stupid and desperate but he's not mentally defective - or should not be. His sister is supposed to be the one with that issue - but not here. So grotesque is Gillen that he dominates scenes is all the wrong ways and, for a while, until one grows used to him, he totally skews the play. Why Simon Evans is allowing him to do this is a real question.

In any case the play outlasts and survives him. Killer Joe has one of the most savagely compelling finales ever and this production delivers it in spades. The play goes out on a high and the audience (full house) responded in kind - lots of bravos and standees at the bows. The Bloom fans were not disappointed.

 

Ahh, Ryan, you do make me laugh!

I was also there last night, and thought this was just 'fine'. I found the first half to be pretty slow with not too much actually happening, but the second half was miles better (kicking off with Orlando's bum helped with that).

The loud noises were also REALLY loud - I'm usually not that bothered by these kinds of things, but I almost had a heart attack on 2 occasions.

If anyone is after a cheaper ticket, box A seat 5 I thought was good value for £15. There's a safety rail in front which wasn't much of an issue, and I could stand up if needed and have a completely clear view, for £40 cheaper than the person sat a few inches to my right.

Oh, I would also say that if you are in row A facing the stage and you're not tall, you might struggle as row AA is right in front of you and there is no rake from the looks of things so you are very much sat facing the back of someone's head. I was in row B and the people in front of me were complaining about it.

Saw the matinee just now and found the whole thing profoundly unexceptional with a rather dated feeling production. Acting was fine, although Orlando Bloom in the lead just wasn't scary, threatening or dominating enough. Joe should be a force of nature but aside from a brief glimmers of chilling psychopathy towards the end I just wasn't convinced. He seemed to be trying to act cool as opposed to just being cool, but he was better than I expected and the supporting cast were decent too.

I wasn't planning to go until a friend offered me their ticket for a cut price because I assumed the audience drawn to the stunt casting would be abysmal and I was correct on that count. I knew it didn't bode well when the Japanese tourist type next to me asked if Orlando Bloom was coming and if she could take pictures. Well I managed to shut that down but I was powerless against some out of town first timer type woman right on the stage on the right who seemed to think she was in her front room - tittering, tutting, gasping, ohhhing and ahhhing and oh noing, and answering the rhetorical question out loud (all done in an exaggerated manner of course), as well as whispering to her fat retired construction worker husband. I was willing somebody in her vicinity to shut her up but to no avail.

All in all though it was an entertaining couple of hours but didn't really bring anything new or exciting to the table. 

Saw this yesterday in one of the bargain row CC £15 seats. CC being the second row at the side and practically on the stage.

I'm a musicals girl and don't see that many plays but so glad I saw this. Cast were sublime and acted their socks off. I loved the set, the lighting, staging and music.

I couldn't keep my eyes off Orlando. My word, he is gorgeous!

Cast all lovely at stage door after too but, of course, full of people who hadn't actually seen the show and of people who'd been to see the other show running at this theatre that finishes earlier. Security checking what people are asking to be signed, only allowing programmes and tickets for the production which is good.

I got my photo with Orlando so am one happy bunny!