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FOURTH WALL THEATRE PRESENTS KILLOLOGY
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Killology is a new gaming experience. Killers are rewarded for torturing their victims. The more creative you are, the more points you score. The only catch: you cannot look away from what you do. The violence manifests into relationships. Or does it?
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x A FATHER TRYING TO AVENGE HIS SON x
x A DAMAGED BOY RUNNING FROM BULLIES x
x A BUSINESSMAN CAPITALISING ON HIS PRIVILEGE x
Three monologues. Occupying separate spaces. Performing perspectives on violence, and the place that violence occupies in father/son relationships. Individually, the actors all hold their own. Davey is heart wrenching and seemingly hopeless. Paul is complex and unlikable. Alan is captivating and conflicted. But then –
THE LINES BLEED THROUGH THE STORIES INTERWEAVE
ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR
The interactions lack depth, lack intensity. The stakes aren’t high enough. I don’t understand the relationship.
And then –
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Is the game over? Lights on. Players unsure how to proceed. Duration of the game was meant to be an hour. Will this finish?
Look at instructions. Running time an hour and forty minutes. It’s nearly that. Is that how we end. No resolution. Confused.
Perplexed expressions, looking around. What do I do. I don’t know how to feel. Help.
I know this. I know that violence and video games are intrinsically linked and transferable to the real world. I know privilege and lack of privilege are factors in this. I know that loyalty and anger and guilt cause irrationality and can have disastrous consequences. I know the political and social implications. I’m tired. There’s no light, no relief. It’s a heavy force pushing me backwards and the further back I go the more desensitized I am to it.
I can’t get past it. This is a game I’ve already played. Nobody wins. I want out.
And then we’re back.
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Back. I wish I could see more of the stage but it’s so dark and my eyes are dull from the screen. The soundscape is gorgeous. I close my eyes and listen to it. Davey offers some light – a possibility that he turned his life around. It’s hopeful. It’s compelling. He shifts onstage from a damaged child to a something unbroken and unfixed all at once. It’s a metamorphosis. It’s compelling. These are the moments to play for. But it’s uncertain, it’s cautious, it’s not consolidated. There’s no resolution, no certainty for anyone.
GAME OVER
