Shoreditch Goes Theatre : Mr Kolpert

Rachel Valentine Smith’s remake of David Gieselmann’s black comedy Mr Kolpert, ensures a hilarious yet twisted tale, ending with the characters covered in vomit, blood and tiramisu, and resulting in a surprising and controversial finale.

Nutty couple Sarah (Kate Sawyer) and Ralf (Edward Fulton) invite conservative couple, timid Edith (Laura Freeman), Sarah’s colleague and overbearing, narcissistic husband Bastian, (Damian Lynch) over for dinner in an attempt to entangle the couple into their ruthless web of nonsense.

Hosts Ralf, a chaos researcher, and Sarah, an unhinged temptress, are highly unprepared, offering alcohol to teetotal guests who rebuff the offer with great and hilarious force, and the ordering of pizza is made into a comical performance in its own right.

The atmosphere in the room turns sour, inciting playful behaviour from the hosts, who awkwardly joke that the body, of boring Mr Kolpert from the accounts department, is inside the trunk on stage using the robe attached to the chair and their motive, to feel human. Edith happily jokes along with the couple, joking she even had an affair with Mr Kolpert, suspicion is awoken, as a knocking is heard coming from inside the large trunk.

The audience are left to question whether Sarah and Ralf prior to the evening, brutally murdered Mr Kolpert? Are Edith and Bastian a just pawn in their shameless game?

In a truly impressive performance from Bastian (Damian Lynch), believing Edith cheated and hosts murdered Mr Kolpert, he takes control of the situation restraining Sarah and Ralf, unloving attacking his wife, Edith. In a humorous performance Pizza man (David Eaton), arrives the action is unfolding; yet he’s more concerned whether the guests received the correct pizza order and goes to the extreme of asking to borrow the hosts phone to call his boss, double checking the order despite Edith, Sarah and Ralph being are clearly tided up.

Evasively the host try to reason with Bastian, it’s all one massive joke, asking to be unrestrained, to eat the food before it goes cold. Bastian foolishly makes the mistake of trusting Sarah and Ralph, a mistake costing him his life; he unties the couple’s hands. In an attempt to break free Ralph, amusingly throws his tiramisu at Bastian’s face, showering the front rows of the audience. The following scenes only get more gruesome, the effect are highly realistic, in this performance of the Curious rooms’, Mr Kolpert, it is not for the demure. Mr Kolpert is controversy at its best; it will keep you on your toes until the very end scene, where all is revealed.

Mr Kolpert is showing until 5th August at The Kings Head theatre, a short walk or 2-minutes ride on the tube from Old Street.

Kings Head Theatre Islington