Never the Sinner

Independant Theatre has done it again. Not that I saw either of the other productions of Never the Sinner, but this show is brilliant.

Never the Sinner tells the tale of Leopold and Loeb, two young rich guys in Chicago in the early 1920s. Inspired by Neitzche's ideal of Ubermensch, the two commit murder "to see if we could". This play takes you back through the times leading up to the murder, as well as the gripping court battle that ensued.

The two leads play well against each other, and lead you down a cleverly written and captivating path towards the murder, and beyond. Personally I liked Dai Davidson's Leopold best, it's amazing to watch his character's development from a quiet bird watcher, through to killer, and back again. I had to restrain myself from cheering at one point where the normally meek Leopold bites back at Loeb who'd always had such control over him.

Alan Munn is fantastic as defense lawyer Clarence Darrow, delivering every line with intent and emotion, bringing tears to my eyes at one point. His legal summation brings up points I love to debate: are killers born that way, or is it something they learn? Should we be prosecuted for something we couldn't help? What is the meaning of "sane" anyway? Great stuff.

John Logan has written a brilliant script. By all accounts, it *should* be brilliant by now, for he's re-written it a number of times. It's just amazing. There's not a spare word in this play, everything counts.

It's worth seeing, definately. It's currently showing at the Odean Theatre, Norwood (Adelaide).