The play concerns Cam (Sasha Gioppo) who is involved in a car accident and is thrust into a coma. Upon waking she is seemingly fine but is plagued by dreams and becomes convinced that she is immortal. Multiple failed attempts at shedding her mortal coil only serve to reinforce her conviction that she cannot die.
Caught in the maelstrom are Cam's lover, Grace (ably played by understudy Carly Ciarrocchi) and her sister, Wendy (Casey Cunningham). Both are pushed to their own limits by their loved one's behavior. For her part, Grace is mostly uncomprehending. She wants to help but is impotent to do so. One of her more revealing lines comes when Cam is paranoid that someone is out to get her and Grace can only plead "No one is coming for you" seemingly oblivious to the double entendre.
Wendy is a psychologist by trade and approaches the subject of her sister's illness from a strictly medical perspective. For her, Cam is simply suffering from mental illness and needs treatment. As Cam's behavior progresses from bad to worse, Wendy realizes that neither she nor Grace can handle her sister and suggests she be put into a mental health treatment facility. This profoundly irritates Cam who dredges up memories from their childhood that pierce Wendy's clinical facade.
In addition to being about the relationships that these three women have, the play also addresses Cam's interior states and does so in a very novel way. The front of the stage was open with three bare bulbs hanging down interrogation room style and this is where Cam, Grace, and Wendy spent most of their time. At the back was what looked like an old dungeon wall. Leaning against it were the guts of a piano - a soundboard and the strings. The Greek may have had three Fates but Cam has four Miseries: Paranoia, Dread, Angst, and Despair. These four characters alternately lurk in the shadows and tread or slither about the stage where they cozy up to our protagonists so as to influence their behavior. In a wonderful bit of staging, they'd often times play their infernal symphony on those strings propped up against the wall. The Miseries' costumes are also notable with Pinhead being an influence for Despair and a sinister ebony jester's outfit for Paranoia.
The Dulcinea gave praise for how the Miseries were omnipresent even if on the periphery. She also appreciated that the protagonists were all women. Gioppo, Cunningham, and Ciarrocchi deserve a lot of credit for their rapid-fire dialogue which was perfectly in sync. Both of Barsotti's plays that WildClaw have done are on the intimate side. He emphasizes small groups of protagonists and confined bases whether it be a basement as in The Revenants or the nebulous yet claustrophobic arena where Cam, Grace, and Wendy spill out their passionate madness.
My only complaint is that there were a few too many times when flashbacks were given to us via dialogue instead of being acted out. One scene depicted an incident from Cam and Wendy's childhood. The latter is at the front of the stage on her knees crying with a light shining up from the floor like Genesis used during "Mama" when Phil Collins would do that demonic laugh while the former is on all fours behind her with a look of pure evil on her face. Kill Me could have used a couple more scenes like this. Seeing a character's face in the throes of agony here is more potent than having her recount an event with the cold, even tone of a psychologist.
Despite this, Kill Me was an intense and often times moving experience.
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