Synopsis
Stolen Chair presents the second installment of its CineTheatre Tetralogy, a timely absurdist film noir for the stage as Ionesco might have imagined it, creating comic chaos out of the possibility that American life might actually be pointless .
A leggy redhead is shot dead in the middle of her nightclub act and Ben Farrell, American private detective, is on the case. The list of suspects grows to include a fatalistic femme fatale, an avaricious publisher, and a millionaire playboy who pens a serialized crime novel called…Kill Me Like You Mean It. Turns out that art imitates life and Ben Farrell finds his own life in the pages of the playboy’s pulp fiction while the redhead’s simple murder mystery quickly degenerates into a sick game for which Farrell never learned the rules.
Visit the 2007 production's website.
Part 2 of the CineTheatre Tetralogy:
4 years, 4 productions, 4 classic film styles adapted for the stage...
Kill Me Like You Mean It is published by United Stages and can be found at the Drama Book Shop.
Production History
January 2007
The Red Room
Presented by Horse Trade
Written by Kiran Rikhye
Directed by Jon Stancato
Dramaturgy & Music by Emily Otto
Stage Combat and Props by Jon Campbell
Lights & Set by David Bengali
Costumes by May Elbaz
Stage Management by Aviva Meyer
Featuring: Tommy Dickie, Sam Dingman, Cameron J. Oro, Alexia Vernon, & Liza Wade White
June 2008
The Brick Theater's Film Festival: A Theatre Festival
After a 100% sold-out critically acclaimed run in 2007, this visually stunning production was restaged entirely behind a movie screen. Why bother mounting a live performance when the audience won't see it? Why bother doing anything?
Directed by Jon Stancato
Screenplay by Kiran Rikhye
from a play by Kiran Rikhye
Music by Emily Otto
Cinematography by Alison Mao
Costumes by May Elbaz
Set & Lighting Design by David Bengali
Titles & Editingby Aviva Meyer
Featuring: David Berent*, Stanley Brode, Cameron J. Oro, Emily Otto, Sarah Stephens, and Alexia Vernon.
Press for Kill Me Like You Mean It
-Download the press release
"...[A]stonishing authenticity...a stroke of genius...Playwright Kiran Rikhye, director Jon Stancato, and their collaborators dazzle with their range and versatility...sharp, smart parody...brilliantly plotted and generally hilarious."
-Martin Denton
NYtheatre.com
"...intriguing...clever...we become fascinated by this whodunnit...under Stancato's shrewd direction, the actors ably perform in noir and absurdist styles, showing much promise in a play that...amuses even as it challenges perceptions..."
-Andy Propst
Backstage
"...[A] clever, high-styling treat. ...[A] fast-paced rollercoaster ride filled with just the right fantastical ingredients to make this absurd play hilarious...The Stolen Chair Theatre is earning a well deserved following."
-Stanley Hall
United Stages
"Brilliant, beautiful writing, smart, inventive directing and every performance spot-on. Shows what you can do when you spend serious time on the work."
-John Clancy
Obie Award-Winning Director and Co-Founder of FringeNYC
"It is no surprise that the bare-bones style of film noir adapts well to the stage; 'Kill Me Like You Mean It' nonetheless manages to astonish. It is an artful mash-up that demonstrates how dark is the heart of absurdist theatre, and how absurd are the conventions of noir. A brilliant installment in The Stolen Chair Theatre Company's CineTheatre Tetralogy, and a must-see for movie and theatre buffs."
-Clute and Edwards
www.noircast.net podcasters
"...[E]xcellent...incredible sensitivity to tone and rhythm. I came for the noir...but I was made rapt by the absurdism...Wish I'd seen Stolen Chair's earlier work, but I'll get to the rest from here on."
-Ian W. Hill
Writer/Director of World Gone Wrong and Founder of Gemini CollisionWorks
"...style, technique, vision and philosophy...A must see play!!
jps529b
NYtimes.com Reader Review
Co-Artistic Director Jon Stancato interviewed on WBAI's "Al Lewis Lives!"
Noircast interview featuring the creative team, moderated by Clute and Edwards
NYtheatrecast featuring the creative team, moderated by Martin Denton
Production Photos:
(Click here to view Stolen Chair's Picasa album if the gallery does not appear)
Excerpted from Act 1 of Kill Me Like You Mean It
Copyright ©2006, Kiran H. Rikhye. All rights reserved.
Scene 4
Farrell enters Lydia’s office. She is seated at her desk.
FARRELL
My name is Ben Farrell. I’m an American private detective. I’m here to see an L. Forsythe.
LYDIA
I’m L. Forsythe. Lydia Forsythe. I’m an American female publisher. Won’t you sit down?
FARRELL
Thanks. [Sits]
LYDIA
Cigarette? [She hands him a cigarette.] Light? [She picks up a lighter, brings it to his cigarette, tries to light the cigarette. The lighter doesn’t work; she takes no notice of this. She puts it down. Smiles pleasantly.] Have you heard of crime fiction, Mr. Farrell?
FARRELL
Crime fiction?
LYDIA
Yes.
FARRELL
Yeah, I’ve heard of it.
LYDIA
You've heard of it, then. I publish American crime fiction. American readers love crime fiction. Petty crime fiction, of course. I'm sure you think all American crime fiction is pretty petty, Mr. Farrell. But it sells. American readers love petty.
FARRELL
You don’t have to tell me.
LYDIA
No?
FARRELL
You might say I’m in a petty business, too, Miss Forsythe.
LYDIA
Really? I thought American private investigation was glamorous.
FARRELL
It’s the unglamorous things that pay the bills.
LYDIA
There you have it: Petty sells.
FARRELL
That’s my motto: No matter how lousy the case, Ben Farrell will on it. Your parakeet's missing, your jewelry was stolen, your wife's run off…you name it. Petty sells.
LYDIA
I like that, Mr. Farrell “Petty sells.” You have a gift with words; should have gone into advertising. American readers love advertising.
FARRELL
Mind if I ask why you called me to your office?
LYDIA
I see we're both businessmen, Mr. Farrell.
FARRELL
Sure.
LYDIA
I’m not quite sure where to start. Why don’t we begin with this story? [She hands him a copy of the latest issue of her magazine.] Go ahead and read it.
Farrell reads, looks concerned, shocked
LYDIA
Is something wrong?
FARRELL
No. Nothing’s wrong. It’s quite a story.
LYDIA
Yes, it is. Are you sure nothing’s wrong?
FARRELL
Sure I’m sure.
LYDIA
If you say so.
FARRELL
Sure I say so. [Casually] Hey, when did you say this was written?
LYDIA
Last month. Why?
FARRELL
Looks like it was written…yesterday.
LYDIA
It speaks to today’s issues, doesn’t it?
FARRELL
Sure it does.
LYDIA
You don't like it, do you? You're not a typical American reader, Mr. Farrell.
FARRELL
I guess not.
LYDIA
I'm sorry to hear that. Tommy Dickie is one of our most popular authors. American readers love Tommy Dickie.
FARRELL
How many writers you have working for you?
LYDIA
In any given issue of Murder Weekly, readers can expect to be treated to the work of no fewer than ten different authors.
FARRELL
It’s quite a business you’ve got going here. You run this operation all by yourself?
LYDIA
No. I work for Mr. Winston Marten, an American publishing mogul.
FARRELL
[Reading off the magazine] Marten Publications. I get it.
LYDIA
I manage Mr. Marten's affairs. That is, I manage his business. Do you mind if I tell you why I called you to my office, Mr. Farrell?
FARRELL
Not terribly, no.
LYDIA
That story you started reading was written by a Mr. Tommy Dickie. Tommy Dickie is one of our most popular authors.
FARRELL
You run this operation all by yourself?
LYDIA
No, I work for Mr. Winston Marten, an American publishing mogul. Cigarette? [She hands him a cigarette.] Light? For the past eight months, Mr. Tommy Dickie has written one riveting installation of his heart-stopping serial detective thriller per month.
FARRELL
He's a regular Charles Dickens.
LYDIA
American readers love Tommy Dickie's gritty realism. Eighty percent of our current readers buy our magazine just to read the next installment of Tommy Dickie's serialized detective stories.
FARRELL
That many?
LYDIA
We have a tremendous readership, Mr. Farrell. And almost half of our current readers buy our magazine just to read the next installment of Tommy Dickie's serialized detective stories.
FARRELL
That’s quite a number.
LYDIA
That it is. So imagine how I felt, Mr. Farrell, when I didn't receive this month's scheduled installment. I called Tommy Dickie in quite a panic, but he wasn't at home. I was told he had left town, rather suddenly; no one knew where he had gone or why. Now here I was, a highly regarded American female publisher managing the American empire of an American publishing mogul, with thousands of American readers waiting for the next installment of Kill Me Like You Mean It--that's the name of Tommy Dickie's serialized story: Kill Me Like You Mean It--and Tommy Dickie was nowhere to be found.
FARRELL
So some guy gave you the runaround and you want me to find him.
LYDIA
Not just some guy. Tommy Dickie. That's his pen name, of course.
FARRELL
What's his real name?
LYDIA
I’m afraid I can’t reveal Mr. Dickie’s identity without violating the terms of our contract. I maintain only the highest American standards of professionalism, Mr. Farrell.
FARRELL
Just let me get this straight. I’m supposed to find some guy who ran out you, but you won’t give me his name or his identity.
LYDIA
I’m afraid I can’t do that.
FARRELL
Oh, that’s fine, I’ll just drive around for a while and see if I pass anyone one the street who looks like he might go by the pen name Tommy Dickie.
LYDIA
Well there’s no reason to get rude about it. Would it help if I gave you his address?
FARRELL
That might be a nice place to start.
LYDIA
416 Windsor Avenue.
FARRELL
And whom exactly should I say I'm looking for once I get there?
LYDIA
I don’t know. You’re the detective, aren’t you?
FARRELL
That’s what they tell me.
LYDIA
Now I imagine you'll want to talk about your fee.
FARRELL
I like the way your imagination works.
LYDIA
It's very practical. Practicality is how we get ahead in the world, Mr. Farrell. Practicality and logic. Practicality, logic, and unbridled avarice; will $10 a day be enough?
FARRELL
Plus expenses.
LYDIA
Plus expenses, of course. I maintain only the highest American standards of professionalism, Mr. Farrell.
FARRELL
I’m relieved to hear that.
LYDIA
Here. [She hands him an envelope] That’s for today. You’ll go to Tommy Dickie’s house today, won’t you?
FARRELL
416 Windsor Avenue.
LYDIA
416 Windsor Avenue. You’ll call me once you’ve been there?
FARRELL
Sure, I’ll call you.
LYDIA
I’ll look forward to that, Mr. Farrell. In fact I just might sit by the telephone all day.
FARRELL
Good thing you keep it on your desk, right where you sit.
LYDIA
That’s not what I mean, silly. I can’t thank you enough. You’re a wonderful man, Mr. Farrell. Just wonderful.
FARRELL
Sure, I guess I am. Goodbye, then.
LYDIA
Goodbye, Mr. Farrell.
Selected Research Material
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Articles on Film Noir:
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Film Noir Screenplays:
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Films:
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Radio programs: online at www.rusc.com
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Visual References:
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