PTC Presents “The Killer”

The Post Theatre Company presents “The Killer,” by Eugene Ionesco, this month in the Little Theatre. The show is directed by Brendan McMahon, a New York-based theatre director, brought in for the show.

“The Killer” begins in a “radiant city,” or so Berenger, the main character, thinks. His elation is short lived. It is only a matter of time before he discovers that the city hosts a killer who is on the loose, luring and drowning victims in a pool.

Oddly enough, all the citizens are well aware of this killer’s presence in their city. Dany, a woman whom Berenger is madly in love with (and believes he is engaged to) is killed as well. Berenger leaves the city and attempts to track down the killer and reason with him. Alas, they encounter one another…and the rest is for you to find out as soon as Nov. 11.

Ionesco is a Romanian-French playwright and dramatist whose work is known to have ridiculed the most clichéd situations, and depicted both the solitude and insignificance of human existence, realistically.

The play is reflective of Ionesco’s personal life, and emotions he felt as a child. Ionesco believed that critics never captured the true meaning behind the play. He suggested that, “It was a very happy city that had been entered by a destructive spirit.”

The cast includes theater majors Marlin D. Slack, Taylor Bass, Brandon Bennett, Tanner Bolin, Matthew Burney, Kaitlyn Curci, Daniel George, Nicole Harley, Kelly Leibman, Claire Main, Audrey Ney and Shabbi Sharifi, in various roles. The cast is made up of a diverse mix of sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

“The Killer happened to fit the cast we had perfectly. I loved the dream like narrative quality of it, and of course how applicable it was to the current elections,” McMahon said. He believes the play is about the fear of the other, the ignorance and indifference of other people. “It feeds into so many different themes like terrorism, immigration, politics and religious values, so on and so forth,” McMahon said. He also enjoyed the professionalism and high level of commitment that the cast put forth. “I think it goes beyond what you expect from people this age,” he added.

Brandon Bennett, a sophomore musical theatre major who plays the killer and several other characters in the show said, “ ‘The Killer’ is about the everyman and his quest to change a problem that no one else is willing to, while overcoming numerous obstacles from outside forces, and everything else around him.” Bennett said that the Killer was the most complex of all the characters he plays in the show because he may be real or he may be in Berenger’s head, and you can never really know. “The Killer is pure manipulation, and I love it.”

“Working with this cast has been a dream,” Bennett added. “Everyone works together so perfectly. That sense of ensemble we have is truly an amazing feeling. We hope that the audience sees this, even when there comes utter chaos within the show.”

The show offers an odd sense of humor and extreme political relevance. The audience is required to pay close attention to the ideas that this play presents in an abstract and rather absurd manner, for which Ionesco is known.

The play opened in the Little Theatre Mainstage on Nov. 11-12. Its run continues on Nov. 17- 19 at 8 p.m. and Nov. 13 and 20 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $15 general admission, $12 for seniors, and $10 for students.

For reservations or purchase tickets, go to www.tix55.com. Post Theater Company can be reached at         post-ptc@liu.edu or 516-299- 2356.