Review: Third Rail's MR. KOLPERT Takes Black Comedy to a Whole New Level

In his review of MR. KOLPERT's premiere at the Royal Court, London, in 2000, Michael Billington wrote: "Comedy doesn't come much blacker or better than this." IMO, he nailed it. MR. KOLPERT, now playing at Third Rail Repertory Theatre, is one of the best examples of very-funny-meets-very-disturbing theatre I've ever seen.

Here's the setup: pretty young couple Sarah and Ralf invite Sarah's coworker Edith and her husband Bastian over for an evening's entertainment. Little to Edith and Bastian know that they are the evening's entertainment (Get the Guests, anyone?). Sarah and Ralf claim to have murdered one Mr. Kolpert (a colleague of Sarah and Edith's) and stored him in the enormous wooden trunk in the middle of their otherwise almost completely white, sterile-looking apartment. Are they telling the truth or is it just some sort of twisted joke?

The play, written in German by David Gieselmann and translated by David Tushingham, is really about how we've become bored and estranged from real human emotions and about the lengths to which we will go to feel something again. And it was written before technology made us even more disconnected from ourselves and one another -- I wonder what Gieselmann's take would be now. The play is hysterical, but it's brilliance is that it makes you laugh at a situation that is not only incredibly shocking but also, at a deeper level, incredibly sad. Then there comes a moment when it's just not funny anymore.

MR. KOLPERT was actually one of the first plays Third Rail ever considered producing. In fact, it was Stephanie Gaslin, who plays Edith in this production, who first brought the play to the table more than a decade ago. In the talkback after the performance I saw, Gaslin said that they kept coming back to it over the years, but it took time to get up the courage to produce it. The waiting paid off -- the production is perfect, not least because you can feel the deep connection that the actors (Gaslin in particular) have with the play.

It's hard to say too much about MR. KOLPERT without giving away any surprises (and there are a lot of surprises). But I do want to call out Leif Norby, who is splendid as the volatile, overbearing Bastian, and, of course, Stephanie Gaslin, who absolutely kills it as Edith! Also, kudos to scenic designer Larry Larsen, props master Charlotte Wallis, and the hard-working crew, who have a lot to clean up each night.

I absolutely, 100% recommend you go see MR. KOLPERT. It's a great play and this is a great production. As a PSA, this show has adult content and some squeamish bits. But it will most definitely make you feel alive!

MR. KOLPERT runs through February 27. Get tickets at www.thirdrail.org.

Photo credit: Owen Carey